{"id":105246,"date":"2024-04-20T18:00:45","date_gmt":"2024-04-20T18:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/usc-cancels-all-commencement-speakers-after-canceled-valedictorian-speech\/"},"modified":"2024-04-20T18:00:45","modified_gmt":"2024-04-20T18:00:45","slug":"usc-cancels-all-commencement-speakers-after-canceled-valedictorian-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/usc-cancels-all-commencement-speakers-after-canceled-valedictorian-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"USC cancels all commencement speakers after canceled valedictorian speech"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Mario Tama\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(LOS ANGELES) — Amid the decision to cancel this year’s valedictorian speech, the University of Southern California announced it would be eliminating all outside speakers and honorees from its main-stage commencement taking place next month.<\/p>\n

In a memo released on Friday, the university said, “To keep the focus on our graduates, we are redesigning the 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.”<\/p>\n

Scheduled keynote speakers included USC alumnus filmmaker Jon M. Chu, director of “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Wicked.” Sports icon Billie Jean King was also scheduled to speak.<\/p>\n

Asna Tabassum, a first-generation South Asian-American Muslim, was scheduled to give a commencement speech on May 10. School administrators, however, decided to cancel her speech citing safety concerns.<\/p>\n

USC said the decision was based on potential threats regarding the selection of the valedictorian.<\/p>\n

“After careful consideration, we have decided that our student valedictorian will not deliver a speech at commencement,” provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at USC, Andrew T. Guzman, said in a letter to students on Monday. “While this is disappointing, tradition must give way to safety.”<\/p>\n

The college senior spoke about the situation with ABC News Live’s Phil Lipof on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

“The valedictorian honor is ultimately a unifying honor, right? It’s emblematic of USC’s unifying values. And I think I take that to heart.”<\/p>\n

“I wanted my speech to be in the genre of a valedictory speech, and so that being said, I wanted to impart a message of hope. I also wanted to impart a message of responsibility,” Tabassum said to Lipof.<\/p>\n

USC — which expects a crowd of 65,000 for the commencement festivities on May 10 — said the focus of the ceremony should be “on the tremendous accomplishments of our 19,000-plus graduates, their friends, their families, and the staff and faculty who have been such a critical part of their journeys.”<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mario Tama\/Getty Images (LOS ANGELES) — Amid the decision to cancel this year’s valedictorian speech, the University of Southern California announced it would be eliminating all outside speakers and honorees from its main-stage commencement taking place next month. 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