University of California cancels graduation ceremony after arrests of pro-Palestine protesters

O University of Southern California (USC) announced this Thursday that it has canceled the main graduation ceremony of 2024, following the arrest of dozens of students in a protest that took place on Wednesday night against the war in Israel against Link.

In this way, the best student of the year, the Muslim Asna TabassumYou will not be able to give your graduation speech.

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In a statement, the university explained that for security reasons “we will not be able to accommodate” to the almost 65 thousand participants in the ceremony scheduled for the morning of May 10th.

The cancellation of the ceremony ends two weeks of setbacks for the USCone of the most prestigious universities in the western United States, after Chancellor, Andrew T. Guzmancanceled Tabassum’s speech citing anonymous threats, but did not indicate who they were directed against.

The decision sparked protests from students, USC faculty, and civil rights and political groups, including congressional Democrats. Ilhan Omar It is Rashida Tlaib.

Tabassum, a U.S.-born biomedical engineer who has studied genocide and wears a hijab, told the Los Angeles Times that she supports the pro-Palestinian cause that has grown on college campuses since the start of the conflict in Link and reiterated that he is not anti-Semitic.

Last week, the university withdrew its invitation to personalities who would speak at the ceremony, such as the director of the film Jon M. ChuUSC alumnus and director of the film ‘Crazy Rich Asians’.

He also canceled the awarding of honorary degrees to the tennis legend. Billie Jean Kingthe president of the National Endowment for the Arts, Maria Rosario Jacksonand the president of the National Academy of Sciences, Marcia McNutt.

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But none of this stopped the discontent that led students on Wednesday to camp at Alumni Park, where the University’s graduation ceremony was scheduled for next month. The camp was created before dawn on Wednesday and grew until dusk, when the Los Angeles Police They emptied the place and arrested almost a hundred students.

Anti-war demonstrations have spread across California. This Thursday students built a camp in University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) as part of its protest actions.

In the north of the state, students from California Polytechnic State University Humboldt They remained barricaded inside a building for the third day in a row.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.