University of Southern California Cancels Muslim Valedictorian’s Speech

People gather on the campus of the University of Southern California on March 21, 2024, in Los Angeles, California.USC’s 2024 valedictorian, Asna Tabassum, is a first-generation South Asian Muslim student majoring in biomedical engineering with a minor in resistance to genocide.

In announcing the university’s decision, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs Andrew Guzman said that, in recent days, “discussion relating to the selection of our valedictorian has taken on an alarming tenor.”Several groups had called for Tabassum’s removal as valedictorian entirely because they argued the link that she shared, a slideshow titled “Freestrongly supports the right to free expression — including informed criticism of the Israeli government.

“After careful consideration, we have decided that our student valedictorian will not deliver a speech at commencement,” Guzman said. “While this is disappointing, tradition must give way to safety.”“There is no free-speech entitlement to speak at a commencement,” Guzman said. “The issue here is how best to maintain campus security and safety, period.”

“The dishonest and defamatory attacks on Asna are nothing more than thinly-veiled manifestations of Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism, which have been weaponized against college students across the country who speak up for human rights — and for Palestinian humanity,” Ayloush continued.its 2024 civil rights report, stating the organization received more complaints of anti-Muslim bias than during any other year in its three decades of existence.

Source: Education Headlines (educationheadlines.net)

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