The University of Southern California has cancelled a scheduled commencement speech by Asna Tabassum, citing unnamed security concerns after her selection as valedictorian was met with a wave of online attacks directed at her pro-Palestinian views.
“I am not surprised by those who attempt to propagate hatred. I am surprised that my own university - my home for four years - has abandoned me,” Tabassum said in a statement shared online.
On 6 April, USC announced that Tabassum was selected as valedictorian, a student with the highest academic achievements in her year, for the graduating class of 2024.
After the announcement was published on social media, Tabassum began receiving online attacks from an account named, “We Are Tov”, a group that describes itself as “dedicated to combating antisemitism”.
The university released a statement on Monday, saying that Tabassum would retain her position as valedictorian, but would not be allowed to give her commencement speech. The school said that the move was made to maintain safety on campus.
Anyone can put up a YouTube video, it’s not going to be watched by 65,000 people or recorded and made available through the school. The platform your speaking from matters. That’s the privilege of being valedictorian.
sure, if just anyone did it. but this student has gotten a lot of press attention and has a lot of fans. there’s plenty she can do to spread her message-- plenty that you’re willing to ignore just to continue your narrative that she’s somehow been gagged and silenced when she hasn’t.
and she’s the USC valedictorian. don’t underestimate her.
but if you’re so willing to sacrifice the lives of strangers for attention and views, then don’t then claim at the same time that you care about innocent lives being lost-- it’s scoring a “win” that you care about, not doing the right thing or being reasonable.
LOL, my “narrative”. Just an amazing failure of self-reflection.
You’re bending over backward to ignore the obvious: that this is a pretense for a political/financial decision in an environment when universities who haven’t been sufficiently pro-Israel have had threats from donors and been hauled in front of Congress and organizations and individuals in academia making pro-Palestinian statements have been disbanded or muzzled. Your stance on this is at best woefully naïve and at worst intentionally dedicated to FUD via concerns about mass casualties from undefined terrorists and nonsensical suggestions that making a YouTube video is a substitution for a major public speaking event. That you wrote that as a serious alternative kind of reveals how you’re not just trying to see all sides.
Since you’re obviously not willing to have a conversation in good faith, and can only speak in preposterous hyperbole ignoring all reason so you can sacrifice the safety of a bunch of strangers to hear a speech that could safely be delivered virtually, I’m just going to ignore you now.
If you actually cared about anyone’s life, as you so very obviously falsely claim, you wouldn’t be risking them in this way for such a foolish endeavor.
I gave you good faith. Until “put up a YouTube video”. After that you don’t deserve further faith. That’s not an endless well that you can draw on while making obviously bad faith suggestions.