USC faculty censures university leaders for response to pro-Palestinian protests

May 9 (UPI) -- The University of Southern California faculty Senate, citing academic freedom and free expression, censured President Carol Folt and Provost Andrew Guzman for their response to pro-Palestinian protests.

The faculty resolution agreed to on Wednesday endorsed a task force to investigate the administrators, saying the administrative actions they took issue with included "the ban of a professor from campus; cancellation of a valedictorian's address; cancellation of commencement activities; campus protests; and removal of protesters from campus."

"Whereas academic freedom, open discourse, and the right of all to express their views are central values of the University; Whereas the faculty play a vital role in University governance, especially on matters related to academic freedom, open discourse, and free expression...the Academic Senate censures President Folt and Provost Guzman," the faculty Senate said in the resolution that was approved in a 21-7 vote with six abstentions.

Folt said the situation at USC represented a "very humbling moment."

"Provost Guzman and I welcome ongoing engagement with the newly created task force," Folt said in a statement. "For now, our focus is on celebrating the 19,000 graduates of the USC's Class of 2024."

Guzman also said he was aware that their decisions "will leave people disappointed."

"We are all doing our best to find a way through this moment," Guzman said.

The university last month decided to cancel a commencement speech by Valedictorian Asna Tabassum, a pro-Palestinian Muslim.

She was criticized by campus group Trojans for Israel after she called for "one Palestine state" through "Palestinian liberation and the complete abolishment of the state of Israel."

Tabassum said she doubted the university's explanation that her speech was canceled on the basis of safety.

"The point here is that the university preemptively made a decision not on the basis of safety but on the basis of potentially other factors that I think impedes on my freedom of expression," she told CNN.

USC's May 10 commencement was canceled as pro-Palestinian protesters joined protests happening on at least 30 college campuses nationwide.

Encampments were created by the protesters that disrupted campus life and led to administrators calling in police to clear the encampments, with at least 93 people arrested.

"The administration's actions have been a tragedy of errors, all of them unforced," said USC professor Howard Rodman. "President Folt and Andrew Guzman have shown themselves incapable of ethical leadership, even as they flouted any notions of shared governance."

UCLA's Legislative Assembly of the Academic Senate plans an emergency meeting Friday for consideration of censure proposals against Chancellor Gene Block.

It's a faculty response to an attack on a pro-Palestinian student protest encampment by a mob purporting to be pro-Israel that in turn led to confrontations with police.