Something's Happening Here!

My response to the cancellation of the valedictory commencement speech at USC

Photo by Good Free Photos on Unsplash

“The university’s purpose is the search for truth, not the imposition of “correct” ideas.” Norman Finkelstein, I'll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It

I’m sure you’re aware, at least I sincerely hope you are, of what’s been happening on college and university campuses, particularly in the USA, since October 7. I don’t know about you, but these loud, passionate, peaceful, tenacious and creative pro-Palestinian protests and sit-ins, on and off campus, flash back to the anti-Vietnam war demonstrations of the late Sixties and early Seventies. In the background I can’t help but hear the first lines from Buffalo Springfield’s iconic song, “For What It’s Worth”: Something’s happening here, what it is ain’t exactly clear.

Last Tuesday, April 16, Andrew T. Guzman, the provost of the University of Southern California, announced the university’s decision to cancel valedictorian Asna Tabassum’s commencement speech for “security reasons”. Guzman said:

“Unfortunately, over the past several days, discussion relating to the selection of our valedictorian has taken on an alarming tenor. The intensity of feelings, fueled by both social media and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, has grown to include many voices outside of USC and has escalated to the point of creating substantial risks relating to security and disruption at commencement. We cannot ignore the fact that similar risks have led to harassment and even violence at other campuses.”

A graduate in bio-medical engineering with a minor in resistance to genocide, Asna Tabassum is a first generation South Asia American Muslim who presumably has an outstanding academic record; otherwise, she would not have been chosen valedictorian. She is also, and you can see for yourself by watching her interview on Democracy Now, an intelligent, articulate, level-headed, far-sighted, and lovely young woman. A shining example, you’d think, of the American Dream.

Within hours of the initial announcement of the honor bestowed upon Ms. Tabassum, she was targeted on social media by, among others, a pro-Israel group called We are Tov and accused of openly promoting antisemitic writings, all because on her Instagram bio she provided a link to a pro-Palestinian page that she intended for students to read, inform themselves of the issues and make up their own minds. In the interview, she said:

“I am only advocating for human equality and for the sanctity of human life when I say that Palestinians, as well as Jews, as well as Muslims and Armenians and anyone else who is invested in this conflict, has the equal right to life and the equal privilege of the fullest extent to life.”

When she asked the university about the content of the thousands of emails that it had received in a campaign to have her removed as valedictorian, she was given no information and told that it was inappropriate for her to know. It is worth noting that she received many more messages of overwhelming support.

Something is happening here, and it seems pretty clear to me that 1. “the voices outside of USC” are those of rich, influential pro-Israel/Zionists donors USC is afraid to lose and 2. that the “substantial risks relating to security and disruption" are not only inflated, but invented since this year’s commencement can hardly be the first one of its size in USC’s history. But even more concerning than the feeble reasons for cancelling her speech is the fact that Ms. Tabassum hadn’t even written it. When asked about the message she would like to send to her fellow graduates, she said:

“ultimately, my message is one of hope. I think something that I truly believe in, given my familial background and, you know, the way I was raised, is that education is such a privilege. And using the ways that we have learned how to learn, it’s incumbent upon us to look at the world and see what we see, and then take information and make conclusions so that we can change the world in the ways that we want to. And so, in accordance with my message of hope, I also want to do a message of inspiration, so that our graduates and my peers can feel empowered to take on issues of world concern and see themselves in positions of making change.”

Now, tell me what’s so subversive, inflammatory, and antisemitic about her ideas? By cancelling her speech, her fellow graduates, their parents and the attending professors will be missing out Big Time!

Yes, something is happening here, and it is exactly clear: We’re not hurtling toward authoritarianism, we’re already there!