Citing safety concerns, USC cancels pro-Palestinian valedictorian’s graduation speech

Saying “tradition must give way to safety,” USC on Monday made the unprecedented move of canceling the upcoming graduation speech of an undergraduate valedictorian who has come under fire for her pro-Palestinian views.

The move, according to USC officials, is the first time the university has kept a valedictorian from the traditional chance to speak onstage at the annual commencement ceremony, which typically draws more than 65,000 people to the Los Angeles campus.

In a campuswide letter, USC Provost Andrew T. Guzman cited unnamed threats that have poured in shortly after the university publicized the valedictorian’s name and biography this month. Guzman said attacks against the student for her pro-Palestinian views have reached an “alarming tenor” and “escalated to the point of creating substantial risks relating to security and disruption at commencement” in May.

Enikia Ford Morthel, the superintendent of Berkeley Unified School District, will testify in May in front of a congressional committee on charges of antisemitism in her schools.

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