University of Southern California valedictorian speaks after school cancels commencement speech
The University of Southern California campus has been in the spotlight after school administrators canceled the valedictorian’s commencement speech, citing safety concerns over pro-Palestinian views.
Asna Tabassum, a first-generation South Asian American Muslim, was scheduled to speak on May 10, but school administrators decided to cancel her presentation citing safety concerns.
“The intensity of emotion, fueled both by social media and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, has grown to involve many voices outside the University of Southern California, raising the grave risks associated with security and disruption at the outset.” It’s escalated to the point where it’s being produced,” Andrew T. said. Guzman, the school’s provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, said in a letter to students Monday.
“This decision is not only necessary to maintain the safety of our campus and students, but also includes the fundamental expectations of federal regulators that the university will act to protect students and keep the campus community safe.” “This is consistent with legal obligations,” he added.
Tabassum has publicly criticized the decision, and several Muslim rights groups have also condemned the school. However, pro-Israel groups praised the school’s decision.
The college senior spoke with ABC News Live’s Phil Lipoff about the situation Wednesday.
ABC NEWS LIVE: I’d like to start with this statement, made in part by the president of the university. “The intensity of the sentiment against allowing you to speak has escalated to the point of posing significant risks related to security and disruption at the start,” he said, noting that “the intensity of the sentiment against allowing you to speak has escalated to the point where it poses significant risks related to security and disruption at the start, and the harassment and harassment seen on other campuses.” Eliminate violence.”
But I know you had a meeting with them. What I’m wondering is, did they tell you anything specific, any specific threats made against you, or any specific threats made against you? Have you ever been?
Asna Tabassum: Yes. Thank you so much for having me. I have to say no. I was not provided with anything concrete, nor were I provided with any specific details regarding any security threats or safety concerns.
ABC NEWS LIVE: A lot of people are talking about the criticism of you and your classmates, and some feel this is going to come back. You told the site there about this post on social media.
Another person created this [site]you should point out that you did not create it, but posted it on the site. [that] Some believe it contains anti-Semitic views, when in fact it is thought to contain violent anti-Semitic views, such as calling for the abolition of the state of Israel .
So do you think that’s part of it? And do you think the state of Israel should be abolished?
Tabassum: So when it comes to the abolition of the state of Israel, I would also like to point out the remaining relevance, the next sentence talks about peaceful coexistence between Arabs and Jews.
And I think that shows what I’ve been saying since the beginning of this issue: I’m committed to human equality and human rights. Therefore, for this link, I recommend looking at the entire thing rather than looking at a specific example.
For example, we discuss both one-state and two-state solutions, and we also discuss regional history. And I think there is important information for people to understand for themselves and come to their own conclusions.
When it comes to the abolition of the state of Israel. I say I want to abolish apartheid.
ABC NEWS LIVE: If there’s one state and there’s two states, you’ll see a two-state solution. I think the abolition of Israel bothers many people. But since you advocate a two-state solution, will there still be Israel and then a Palestinian state? Is that what I’m hearing?
Tabassum: No, I’m not necessarily committed to a one-state or two-state solution. I am simply saying that the information on this website provides information from multiple points of view, and there is no basis for endorsing any single point of view.
ABC News Live: Okay. Therefore, USC said this was not intended to violate free speech. Do you feel like you’re doing exactly that?
Tabassum: In the most technical terms, the ability to give a commencement speech is a privilege, right?
It’s not necessarily freedom of speech, but the fact that I expressed my opinions and expressed them online, and the hate that was directed at me because I expressed these opinions, ultimately led to USC I think that was part of the reason I gave in.
So whether freedom of speech in its most technical terms is even discussed here is probably debatable. But I would say that speech is the problem and speech is being suppressed.
ABC NEWS LIVE: What were you going to talk about? There’s a lot of talk about what you posted, the links to it, and what your beliefs are. Did you plan to talk about that at graduation, or did you intend to give a different kind of speech?
Tabassum: So the honor of valedictorian is ultimately a unified honor? It symbolizes USC’s unifying values. And I think I keep that in mind.
I wanted my speech to be in the style of a governor’s speech, so that being said, I wanted to convey a message of hope. I also wanted to convey a responsible message.
We are endowed with a wonderful higher education. We are given the knowledge to learn how to learn. So I wanted to encourage my peers to learn about the world, come to their own conclusions, and take action to change the world in any way they see fit.
And ultimately, in assuming the role of valedictorian, I wanted to be a unifying voice for all students, but that was preemptively taken away from me.
