As the war in Gaza continues, so too have protests on American college campuses. Nearly 300 students were arrested at various universities over the weekend. USC has been mired in controversy and protest for weeks after the institution canceled valedictorian Asna Tabassum’s commencement speech following complaints from pro-Israel groups. Last week, the LAPD arrested 93 people on campus. Now USC has closed the campus to the general public and canceled the main commencement ceremony. After its clearing on Wednesday, a pro-Palestinian encampment has been reestablished on campus.
USC journalism professor Sandy Tolan has visited the encampments, including for several hours on Saturday. He and about 20 other faculty members went there after seeing reports of dozens of police vehicles being spotted.
Tolan says the encampments were peaceful: “It was rather surreal. At one point, you had a woman standing on a fountain quietly reading the names of people who have died in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. And she was surrounded by people sitting cross-legged, just listening quietly as she read the names, the ages.”
In contrast, LAPD helicopters were thundering overhead, he notes. Then, late that night, the operation appeared to be called off and the helicopters left.
In a statement released Friday, USC President Carol Folt described the demonstrations as unsafe, and stated that safety policies were violated, threatening language was shouted, and people were assaulted. Tolan says he has not seen that kind of behavior.
“I, and many other faculty members, have witnessed many hours of the students and none of us have seen any violence, any threats, any shouting or screaming — other than chanting. And so the idea that these people are somehow a threat is to me absurd. And President Folt, her statements have been really out of touch.”
He continues, “It's clear that she hasn't been there. But not only that, on the day that the 93 protesters were arrested last Wednesday, the only statement she made was a celebration of the return of Reggie Bush's Heisman Trophy. So there's a kind of surreal disconnect going on here, the idea that somehow, students who are speaking their conscience are somehow a threat. I don't know what the threat is to free speech.”
He points out, however, that just because he hasn’t personally witnessed hateful language — including antisemitic remarks — that doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Instead, he posits that everyone has the right to feel safe.
“If someone feels uncomfortable because there are protests in support of Palestinians, that is another matter. I do not think that in of itself is antisemitic. But where there is genuine antisemitism, it should be absolutely denounced.”
He continues, “And I would also like to point out one of the groups that has been very actively involved in the protests at USC is Jewish Voice for Peace, and there are regular seders in the evening there. There was a kaddish reading scheduled along with yoga and kite-making and Black Palestinian solidarity sessions scheduled for Wednesday, before the police broke it up.”
Meanwhile, some commencement speakers at USC’s satellite graduation ceremonies have withdrawn, including writers C Pam Zhang and Safiya U. Noble. Tolan describes the situation as a fiasco that could have been avoided if the university didn’t cancel Tabassum’s speech, which he says there’s still time to reinstate.
“I'm so sorry for the students, many of whom didn't get to have a high school graduation during the pandemic. Now, they don't get to have a graduation from USC. And imagine the pride of so many, especially first-generation students, some of whom had family coming from different places all over the world. And to have this canceled — this did not need to happen.”
Tolan notes that many members of the press — excluding reporters from USC Annenberg and The Daily Trojan — were not allowed in.
“I have reported from more than 40 countries. This is what dictators do. This is what besieged leaders from around the world [do]. They cut off access to the press. This is what people do under martial law. I don't think USC intends to create the impression that it's creating martial law. And I'm not saying it's doing that exactly. But these kinds of restrictions are completely inappropriate, especially under the circumstances of peaceful protests, which might make some people uncomfortable. And again, when it veers into antisemitism, which I have not witnessed, then that's another matter. But this is a complete overreaction by my administration.”
He says the best way to move forward is for USC’s administration to reflect on how the situation panned out and to extend an olive branch to all members of the university’s community and say, “We made a mistake, we're going to try to make it right. We're going to put on the graduation again. We're going to have Asna Tabassum read the valedictorian speech.”
He continues, “I think that's the best solution and I have zero hope that, at this point, that that will happen unfortunately.”
So how effective are these protests? Tolan compares them to the anti-Vietnam War and civil rights protests of the 1960s.
“At the time, I'm sure there were people questioning how effective they could be. But when you look back, historians look back, and I think people would agree that they have generally contributed to change. … [Now] I think there's a huge disconnect and empathy gap … between seeing Palestinians as human beings and seeing Israelis as fully human, which, of course, everyone should. … These protesters, I think part of what they're doing is trying to empathize with people who are under siege.”