Editorials reflect a consensus among a small committee of editors and staff members. It is separate from the News section. The views expressed by the Editorial Board do not reflect those of the Daily Trojan’s senior editors or of the staff as a whole.

The Daily Trojan loudly and proudly proclaims itself to be “fiercely independent.” We therefore recognize the value and importance of free expression, especially in the face of a powerful University. It is for this reason, among others, that the Editorial Board calls for USC to allow our valedictorian, Asna Tabassum, to speak at commencement.

As USC boasts of its Arab American Heritage Month celebrations, the decision to select a Muslim student as valedictorian should be a testament to the University’s commitment to equity. But as soon as that student was found to have a view that was not palatable to some, the University’s efforts proved to be performative.

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“As Muslim American students, as a biomedical engineering major and as someone who struggled to find representation in my academic journey, the news that Asna Tabassum was named valedictorian represented a collective victory,” one protester said at a march of around 300 people Thursday afternoon. “Upon reading the email sent by Provost Guzman to the student body on Monday, this dream was instantly shattered. It truly reminded me that the achievements of minority students can be undermined by institutional bias in the blink of an eye.”

Following international attention and outcry, the University chose to “release” all outside speakers and honorees from its main commencement ceremony rather than reinstate Tabassum. In a statement released Friday afternoon, USC claimed this decision was “to keep the focus on our graduates.”

Many of these graduates belong to the high school Class of 2020 who already lost out on one graduation due to the coronavirus pandemic. Now, due to the University’s mishandling of yet another scandal, they are losing out on the crowning ceremony of their academic achievements.

The University claims it is not breaking any laws or guidelines by preventing Tabassum from speaking, but it is committing an act possibly even more egregious: breaking students’ trust. After failing to stand by Tabassum as she faced online vitriol and instead caving to the interests of those perpetuating that hate, it’s clear the University does not support even its best students if the decision could cause a stir.

The University’s citation of safety concerns in response to community backlash is cowardly and embarrassing. On Tuesday, Associate Senior Vice President of Safety and Risk Assurance Erroll Southers told student media that the risk assessment for all events is “dynamic” and Tabassum’s speech drew an “unprecedented” number of threats.

This reasoning is disingenuous: It is hard to believe these — still unspecified — grievances were vastly more concerning than those about other high-profile guests, including those as recent as Turkish Ambassador Hasan Murat Mercan, whose appearance in September drew intense criticism and protests. 

Tabassum is a member of the USC community — one of our brightest and most well-spoken, as evidenced by her handling of this issue in national news. The fact that the University protects the safety of external political figures but claims that it cannot offer a fellow Trojan the same courtesy is an abject failure.

Despite USC’s claims that they only spoke of safety concerns and the decision was not about free speech, Tabassum asserts that in a conversation with her, the University cited “not wanting to project an image” with increased security protections as the reason for her speech’s cancellation; However, shortly after, the University released a statement denying this account of events.

The misrepresentation of what she has shown support for has also painted Tabassum as someone who incited and called for violence, something irrevocably false. Tabassum simply linked a pro-Palestinian website on her Instagram and follows and interact with accounts’ posts reinforcing pro-Palestinian and anti-Zionist beliefs.

Yet, even in its premature assumption about the contents of Tabassum’s speech, the University has conveniently overlooked what would qualify her to speak out on the topics that have informed their decision. These qualifications include her minor in resistance to genocide, which should properly inform a student to speak on geopolitical issues of pressing nature. 

Whether or not she wanted to speak about geopolitical issues, as the University seems to have assumed, Tabassum has earned the right as our valedictorian to express her opinion on a topic she has educated herself at USC. That the University would deny its highest-performing student a time-honored tradition out of fear she may speak up calls into question the integrity of the education we all chose to pursue here.

At the protest yesterday on campus in support of Tabassum, students spoke of their personal relationships with her, of her kindness and compassion, and of her strength in the face of this adversity. Tabassum’s own statement affirmed her strong conviction to defend human rights of all individuals and denounced the very hatred of which she is accused.

“I challenge us to respond to ideological discomfort with dialogue and learning, not bigotry and censorship,” Tabassum wrote. “I urge us to see past our deepest fears and recognize the need to support justice for all people, including the Palestinian people.”

President Carol Folt made the final decision to bar Tabassum from speaking, and members of the Daily Trojan Editorial Board speak to her directly when we say: Let her speak.