Letters to the Editor: Did USC make the right call and prevent violence on its campus?

To the editor: USC President Carol Folt, so far, appears to have taken exactly the right steps. ("13 days that rocked USC: How a derailed commencement brought 'complete disaster,'" April 27)

She called for people to "share points of view, listen, search for common ground." But it is clear that some people are not willing to do that and will continue to demand that she side with them completely.

Meanwhile, while USC will not have a grand, campus-wide graduation, every matriculating student, with some guests, will have the opportunity to attend a smaller-scale graduation.

A "complete disaster"? No. A total disaster would have been if fighting broke out and people were hurt or even killed.

At the cost of some bad publicity, USC's prudent actions have avoided possible calamity.

Norman H. Green, Los Angeles

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To the editor: As I read multiple stories about USC valedictorian Asna Tabassum’s commencement speech being canceled, I kept hoping to learn more about this young woman.

But the articles said the same thing: Her grade point average was 3.98 or above, she was chosen from among more than100 students, her major was biomedical engineering and her minor was resistance to genocide — and, oh yes, she is "pro-Palestinian."

After serving for 28 years on the USC's Commencement Steering Committee, I know that the students chosen as valedictorians are not only scholars but also contributors to the community in multiple ways. It took a little digging, but thanks to USC Annenberg Media, I now know that Tabassum follows in that tradition.

She was an early leader of Blueprints for Panagaea's USC chapter, which reallocates medical supplies to areas in need. She is also a student ambassador for the Viterbi School of Engineering and is a volunteer with the USC Mobile Clinic, which serves shelters on L.A.'s Skid Row.

I attended USC's commencement every year I worked there. Hearing multiple speeches from valedictorians, I often thought of how proud their parents must be. I am so sad that Tabassum's family won't be able to share their pride along with the rest of the class of 2024 because their daughter has been silenced and USC's main ceremony has been canceled.

Sue Vogl, Manhattan Beach

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To the editor: USC may often be tamer than some schools when it comes to student activism. That was not the case in May 1970, however, in my third year (out of 30) of teaching at USC. For me, the present days brought back memories of that long-past month.

Then, when news of the May 4 shootings at Kent State University in Ohio hit the Trojan campus, ordinary business was over. There were passionate all-night student meetings, and during the day activists walked the halls and opened classroom doors, shouting, "On strike! Shut it down!"

President Norman Topping convened a huge meeting of students and faculty. He accepted the strike and announced a policy whereby students who wanted to spend the remainder of the semester opposing the Vietnam War could do so and take the grade they had to date. Others who wanted to continue classes could do that instead.

I can't help wondering what it would have been like if a similar policy had been adopted now — if, instead of calling in police, students on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had been allowed to take their current grade and work for their cause, while others could finish the semester normally, leading up to a grand commencement representing everyone.

Robert Ellwood, Claremont

The writer is a professor emeritus of religion at USC.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.