USC’s Silenced Valedictorian, Asna Tabassum, Shares Her Commencement Speech
Today, Asna Tabassum, a first-generation Muslim student and USC’s valedictorian, would have delivered her speech before thousands of her peers at this year’s graduation ceremony. Instead, amid pressure from pro-Israeli groups citing her social media support for Palestinians, university leaders chose to cancel her commencement speech, citing safety concerns.
In place of what would have been her address to the class of 2024, Tabassum released a largely redacted version of the speech she had hoped to give at 8 a.m. on Friday, around when she would have taken the stage at the nixed main-stage ceremony.
Published by Annenberg Media and the Daily Trojan, USC’s student-run publications noted in an Instagram post that Tabassum’s “speech is published as was written and shared by Tabassum. Annenberg Media and the Daily Trojan did not write, edit or change the speech or its presentation.”
“President Folt, Provost [Andrew] Guzman, faculty, staff, families and fellow Class of 2024: It is my honor to stand before you today as your valedictorian,” it begins before being cut off by several redacted paragraphs.
“Congratulations, Class of 2024,” the speech ends, before more blacked-out text. “Thank you.”
On Friday, as Tabassum — a biomedical engineering major whose sash included her “minor in resistance to genocide” — was honored with a standing ovation as she received her diploma during the Viterbi School of Engineering graduation ceremony, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Although the university pointed to safety issues as the reason behind the valedictorian’s speech cancellation last month, it declined to give details as to what threats drove the security concerns.
“I am both shocked by this decision and profoundly disappointed that the University is succumbing to a campaign of hate meant to silence my voice. I am not surprised by those who attempt to propagate hatred. I am surprised that my own university — my home for four years — has abandoned me,” Tabassum wrote in a statement following the decision, adding that “there remain serious doubts about whether USC’s decision to revoke my invitation to speak is made solely on the basis of safety.”
As USC reeled from the backlash over the cancellation, student protests demanding the university divest from companies with ties to Israel threw the school further into controversy. Soon after, USC announced that it had canceled its main-stage graduation ceremony for students, but that individual school ceremonies would still take place with additional security measures implemented.
Collegiate demonstrations have erupted across the country as some students call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and demand their universities divest from companies profiting off Israel’s war in Gaza. The protests have added to existing pressure on President Joe Biden and his administration to cut off military aid to Israel as the threat of an Israeli invasion of Rafah looms.
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