The situation on American university campuses is not very good. The abhorrent anti-Semitism that seems to only be on the rise and the lackluster response from campus administrators have led to some truly frightening developments.
Violence and rule-breaking behavior must not be tolerated. period.
But higher education leaders can’t use anxious times as an excuse to censor perfectly fine speech just because they’re afraid of a difficult situation.
That’s what happened at the University of Southern California last week when the Los Angeles school decided to cancel valedictorian Asna Tabassum’s May commencement speech. This is the first time the University of Southern California has prevented a senior graduating class from speaking at a ceremony.
University officials claimed they were concerned about the “alarming tone” that occurred on social media after Tabassum was named valedictorian. The ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip has led to heightened tensions in the United States following Hamas’ brutal attack on Israel on October 7th.
Critics were unhappy with Tabassum’s support for the Palestinians, accusing her of “anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist statements.”
“The intensity of emotion, fueled both by social media and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, has grown to involve many voices outside the University of Southern California, raising the grave risks associated with security and disruption at the outset.” It’s escalated to the point where we’re producing,” said Chancellor Andrew. Guzmán said in his statement. “This decision is not only necessary to keep our campus and students safe, but also consistent with fundamental legal obligations.”
Following the controversy surrounding the decision to block Tabassum from speaking, USC doubled down by canceling the attendance of other speakers and award recipients.
How is this fair for valedictorian Asuna Tabassum?
Not only is USC’s decision an affront to free speech, it is also fundamentally unfair to Tabassum, who undoubtedly worked hard during his college years to achieve this outcome.
This experience should not be taken away from her.
Tabassum said in a statement that she was surprised that the University of Southern California had “abandoned” her.
Hey Berkeley:Violence is not free speech. Universities continue to suffer from anti-Semitic protests.
Now, Ms. Tabassum may have offensive personal views, and her speech could cause division on campus. Even so, her academic performance should not be compromised due to her fear of possible violence or speeches she may not have written yet.
Instead, the university should have worked to keep her safe and the others attending her graduation ceremony. And if she knows of an obvious security threat, she should be upfront about it.
The Individual Rights and Expression Foundation condemns USC for its handling of this situation. Although USC is a private university, we are committed to free speech in accordance with the First Amendment. And FIRE points out that California law requires private, secular universities to give students the same speech rights as the state’s public institutions.
“Implicit in the idea of a campus that strongly protects the right to expression is that administrators will not censor students simply because they hold controversial views,” FIRE said in a statement. .
Adrian University offers a better way to deal with controversy
Meanwhile, administrators at Michigan’s private Adrian College are handling their own “controversy” in a much better way.
They mostly ignore it.
Last month, Adrian College announced that Riley Gaines will be the commencement speaker on May 5th.
Gaines is often described in the media as an “anti-transgender rights activist,” but that’s not all. She is an accomplished former NCAA swimmer who rose to fame after tying transgender swimmer Leah Thomas in the 200-yard race at the 2022 NCAA Freestyle Championships.
As a result of that experience, Gaines has become an outspoken advocate for fairness in women’s sports, frequently speaking on the issue at universities across the country.
Athletes sue NCAA:These women claim that transgender rules discriminate against them. So they’re suing the NCAA.
Gaines is used to receiving backlash and even violence on campus, so it probably comes as no surprise to her that there are factions of the Adrian community who are not happy about her speaking at the school. A group of LGBTQ+ students has started an online petition asking the university to “disinvite” Mr. Gaines’ girlfriend. It currently has over 1,600 signatures.
However, the university is not backing down.
“Adrian College has never shied away from presenting and debating substantive disagreements on campus,” Adrian College President Jeffrey Docking said in a news release. “In fact, this is exactly what the university is about: engaging in civil discussion about controversial issues. We welcome Riley Gaines to our beautiful campus and our students will be attending her graduation ceremony. I’m sure you’ll be inspired by his greetings.
We hope that Mr. Docking and the other administrators remain steadfast in their commitment. And even though it may be embarrassing for the University of Southern California to back out, valedictorian Tabassum should be reinstated as the commencement speaker.
Now more than ever, college students need examples of what freedom of expression looks like in practice.
Ingrid Jack is a columnist for USA TODAY. Contact us at ijacques@usatoday.com or X (formerly Twitter: @).Ingrid Jacks.
