University of Southern California – Barring of Valedictorian

Summary

In April 2024, the University of Southern California selected Asna Tabassum, a Muslim South Asian American biomedical engineering student with a minor in resistance to genocide, as valedictorian of the graduating class. Soon after the announcement, the university barred her from delivering the traditional commencement speech, citing vague “security concerns” tied to public backlash over her pro Palestinian social media content. These posts included statements describing Zionism as a “racist settler-colonial ideology” and expressions of solidarity with Palestinians facing occupation. University leadership did not provide specifics, and Tabassum condemned the decision as censorship rooted in political pressure and Islamophobia.

The move triggered widespread protest on campus. Hundreds of students rallied in support of Tabassum, and over 150 faculty members signed a letter calling the university’s decision discriminatory and inconsistent with its commitments to free speech. Several members of USC’s Advisory Committee on Muslim Life resigned in protest, describing the university’s actions as harmful to Muslim and Palestinian students and eroding trust in its leadership.

In the weeks that followed, demonstrations grew. After sustained protest activity in the center of campus, university administrators canceled the university wide commencement ceremony entirely, replacing it with smaller decentralized celebrations at the LA Coliseum. Ninety-three students were arrested following a law enforcement sweep of the protest site.