The University of Southern California has officially canceled next month’s main stage commencement ceremony, following pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus on Wednesday, which resulted in 93 arrests.
The decision comes in the wake of USC’s decision last week to tell valedictorian Asna Tabassum she would not be allowed to deliver the traditional speech at the event. University administrators say they can’t guarantee security of attendees, as demonstrations have disrupted campus.
Students are universally disappointed.
“I’m definitely pretty sad about it,” says senior Margo Neuberger, wearing her graduation sash and snapping photos beside the campus’ landmark Tommy Trojan statue. “Especially for the class of 2020, we graduated into COVID, and we missed everything for our senior year then. So now also not getting this graduation is … a big bummer. … But fortunately, hopefully, we'll still have our individual, smaller school ceremonies. But … it almost seems like a joke.”
Another senior, Giancarlo Rodriguez, says the news is especially disappointing for his family because he is a first-generation college student.
“I'm the first person graduating from my family, so this is the first experience that we have ever had as a family in an event like this,” Rodriguez says. “So, for it to not be 100% of what it's supposed to be for the students at the end of the day, which are supposed to be the priority, it's really an odd event.”
As of Thursday, campus is closed to visitors, with students and faculty required to show ID to enter. Alumni Park, the site of Wednesday’s protest and where commencement was to take place, is fenced off.
Some in USC’s Jewish community report feeling fear and discomfort on campus on Wednesday. That includes 2009 USC alumna Charlotte Korchak, draped in an Israeli flag, mentions one of her friends, a Jewish student who regularly wears a yarmulke on campus: “He's worn it his whole time at USC, and this was the first day that he actually felt scared to wear his kippah on campus, because he felt the Jews were being targeted. Look, I think there's a difference between actually being unsafe and feeling unsafe. And I think that [Department of Public Safety] and what the administration did … calling in the LAPD and clearing out the protesters who were breaking the rules, I think was the right move.”
One pro-Palestinian protestor who did not want to be identified by name says they’re disappointed that commencement is canceled, but that it also shows university officials are very nervous about protestors getting their message getting out.