NATIONAL NEWS – USC cancels all commencement speakers due to support for Palestinians

Mariah Cain, Staff Writer

The University of California announced that all commencement speakers for the year have been canceled. On April 15 the university’s provost Andrew Guzman announced that the school decided to cancel their student valedictorian, Asna Tabassum’s speech citing safety issues on campus. Tabassum faced backlash for her social media posts supporting Palestine. 

On Friday the university released a statement, “To keep the focus on our graduates, we are redesigning the commencement program.” The statement continues, “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.”