USC cancels filmmaker’s keynote after dropping pro-Palestinian valedictorian speech
California university says it’s reworking event; free speech debate boils after decision to scrap speech by student accused of espousing antisemitic views due to ‘safety concerns’
LOS ANGELES, California — The University of Southern California further shook up its commencement plans Friday, announcing the cancelation of a keynote speech by filmmaker Jon M. Chu just days after making the controversial choice to disallow the student valedictorian from speaking.
USC also called off a planned appearance by tennis legend Billie Jean King, the New York Times reported.
The private university in Los Angeles on Monday said it was canceling valedictorian Asna Tabassum’s speech at the May 10 ceremony because of safety concerns.
Tabassum, who is Muslim, has expressed support for Palestinians in the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas terror group, and university officials said the response to her selection as valedictorian had “taken on an alarming tenor.” They did not cite any specific threats.
Trojans for Israel, a USC-based group, and We Are Tov (Hebrew for “good”), a group advocating support for Israel and Jews in collegiate life, have said Tabassum espoused antisemitic views in the past.
Some cited links to posts Tabassum shared — but did not compose — on her Instagram profile that called Zionism a “racist settler-colonial ideology,” advocated for a single, binational Israeli-Palestinian state and said that “antisemitism is weaponized against Palestinians and allies … by Zionists as a way to shut down criticism of Israel.”
The university’s decision was met with praise from pro-Israel organizations but condemnation from free speech groups and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Students and faculty marched across campus Thursday in silent protest of the university’s decision.
Now, university officials say they are “redesigning” the entire commencement program.
“Given the highly publicized circumstances surrounding our main-stage commencement program, university leadership has decided it is best to release our outside speakers and honorees from attending this year’s ceremony,” the university said in an unsigned statement posted Friday. “We’ve been talking to this exceptional group and hope to confer these honorary degrees at a future commencement or other academic ceremonies.”
Chu was slated to deliver the keynote address at the May 10 ceremony. He is a 2003 graduate of the university who has since directed films like “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Wicked,” an adaptation of the Broadway musical set for release this year.
More than 65,000 people are expected to gather on campus for commencement, including 19,000 graduates.
“Although this should have been a time of celebration for my family, friends, professors, and classmates, anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian voices have subjected me to a campaign of racist hatred because of my uncompromising belief in human rights for all,” Tabassum said in a statement earlier this week.
The Israel-Hamas war has presented a challenge for colleges under pressure to preserve free speech and open debate, and campuses are expected to be further tested as commencement speeches get underway in the coming weeks.
At Columbia University on Thursday, New York police removed a “Gaza solidarity encampment” and arrested more than 100 demonstrators. Most of them were charged with trespassing at the Ivy League institution.
Several students involved in the protest said they also were suspended from Columbia and nearby Barnard College. The school said it was still identifying students involved in the protest and added more suspensions would be forthcoming.
“Students have a right to free speech but do not have a right to violate university policies and disrupt learning on campus,” said New York Mayor Eric Adams, who said the city was asked by university officials to remove the encampment.
