….. cites safety concerns
What was supposed to be a time of celebration for Asna Tabassum – the University of Southern California’s 2024 valedictorian – has turned to disappointment after the university denied her the chance to give a speech at commencement over security concerns.
“Over the past days, discussion relating to the selection of our valedictorian has taken on an alarming tenor,” USC Provost, Andrew Guzman, said in an online campus-wide letter.
“The intensity of feelings, fuelled by both social media and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, has grown to include many voices outside of USC.
And it has escalated to creating substantial risks relating to security and disruption at commencement.”
Tabassum, a first-generation South Asian-American Muslim, would have delivered her speech at the graduation ceremony on May 10.
It’s an honour Tabassum is no stranger to. Her high school named her valedictorian in May 2020 but due to the pandemic, she never got to deliver a speech, she told CNN on Tuesday.
And it’s an accolade Tabassum calls “an honour of a lifetime,” one that her parents consider “a report card.”
“Evidence of their tireless work, love, support and the values and the characteristics that they’ve instilled in me for 21 years.”
“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,” Tabassum said in an online statement she released via the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Los Angeles.
“I am not surprised by those who attempt to propagate hatred. I am surprised that my university – my home for four years – has abandoned me.”
As tensions in the Middle East rage on, Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza has yielded a dire humanitarian crisis while stoking angst across the world as supporters of Israel and Palestinians advocate online and in the streets, many in support of a ceasefire.
The change to USC’s commencement programme only affects plans for a student speech, Lauren Bartlett, the university’s Associate Vice President for strategic and crisis communications, told CNN.
Bartlett declined to say what security concerns drove the school’s decision.
“In the interest of safety and security, we don’t disclose specific threats around the assessment,” she said.
For her part, Tabassum harbours “serious doubts about whether USC’s decision to revoke my invitation to speak is made solely based on safety,” she said in the online statement.
“The doubts linger because I am unaware of any specific threat against me or the university.
Read Related News:
Protest: US serviceman sets himself ablaze in Gaza protest
Relocating Gaza residents extremely dangerous – UN chief
Suicide bomber kills 59 in Pakistan mosque
“My request for the details underlying the university’s threat assessment has been denied. And because I am not being provided any increased safety to be able to speak at commencement,” Tabassum said.
When asked whether Tabassum would still be permitted to participate in the graduation ceremony and what security measures were in place to secure her safety, Bartlett said she didn’t have that information.
A Chino Hills, California native, Tabassum studied biomedical engineering with a minor in resistance to genocide and an interest in global healthcare equity.
USC student advocacy group ‘Trojans for Israel’, accused Tabassum of sharing a link in the bio of her Instagram page that calls Zionism “a racist settler-colonial ideology” and advocates for the “complete abolishment” of Israel, it wrote in a social media post.
Tabassum said she posted the link, which detailed “what’s happening in Palestine and how to help,” three years ago as part of her commitment to stand up for human rights.
Tabassum told CNN’s Abby Phillip, on Tuesday night, that “the hate and the vitriol that was unleashed towards me after, I think, was part of the reason the university caved in.”
“My goal when putting this link in my bio is to inform and in the spirit of academic discourse. I think people need to be informed, people ultimately can make their own decisions,” she told CNN.
Yet Tabassum says those views “were stifled and were subject to hate.”
CNN has reached out to ‘Trojans for Israel’ for comment. “To be clear: this decision has nothing to do with freedom of speech,” said the Provost, Guzman.
“There is no free-speech entitlement to speak at a commencement. The issue here is how best to maintain campus security and safety, period.”
“While this is disappointing,” he noted, “tradition must give way to safety.”
But instead of cancelling Tabassum’s speech, the university should take more steps to secure a safe graduation environment, said Hussam Ayloush, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Los Angeles.
“Although, USC has maintained Asna’s position as valedictorian, the cowardly decision to cancel her speech empowers voices of hate and censorship.
“It violates USC’s obligation to protect its students. It sends a terrible signal to both Muslim students at USC. And all students who dare to express support for Palestinian humanity,” Ayloush said in an online statement. (CNN Reports)
