Through apologies, Folt and Guzman stand by cancellations

Justifying the administration’s decisions on commencement proceedings, Guzman said an “unprecedented … influx” of comments motivated the cancellation of Tabassum’s speech but said he could not reveal more specifics because doing so would “change the nature or the valence of that security situation.”

Folt apologized — though not directly to Tabassum — for calling off the speech, but said its associated security concerns over student safety “superseded” tradition and that she stands by her administration’s choices.

“If you truly feel as I did, and I still do, that the choice to [not] put people at risk was the most important one, even though, very sadly, I knew people would be very upset about it, I had to make it,” Folt said. “I’d probably still make that decision.”

USC canceled the main stage commencement ceremony to preserve campus safety, Folt said, and to “prevent explosive events like last night” — referring to the outbreak of violence late Tuesday night at UCLA, during which counter-protesters threw fireworks at the pro-Palestine encampment.

The administration deemed it unfeasible, Folt said, to bring 65,000 people to campus for the ceremony through gates and stringent security within a relatively narrow time window. The University could not move the ceremony to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum because it was already reserved, she said.

Folt and Guzman justify handling of encampment

On the topic of bringing the Los Angeles Police Department in to disperse the “Gaza Solidarity Occupation” demonstration, Folt said she agreed to have the officers on campus at the start because “it looked like that one could really spiral out.”

She also noted that because USC sits in Los Angeles, the LAPD has the authority to mobilize on campus when they feel it is necessary, as the Department of Public Safety is not authorized to deal with “violent arrests.”

“I know, in order to keep people safe, many people felt less safe,” Folt said.

Guzman revealed that 51 of the 93 protesters arrested on April 24 were USC students. Another 36 were not USC-affiliated, he said.

He confirmed that the University has not, “at the present time,” moved forward with disciplinary action against the students arrested after the April 24 demonstration. Guzman and Folt could not confirm the status of charges against involved students and non-USC-affiliated participants.

A faculty member asked the administrators whether the University would pledge not to call in the LAPD and DPS to interrupt future demonstrations without recorded incidents of violence. In response, Folt said she could not commit to any course of action based on unspecified future protests.

Folt contradicted previous statements that organizers of the “Gaza Solidarity Occupation” made by saying her administration was “acting in good faith to find a peaceful solution,” though she said she wishes she had gotten personally involved in speaking to the student organizers at the occupation in its early stages to help “de-escalate.”

“I don’t know why I didn’t because I almost always do,” Folt said.

Administration faces crisis of trust

To rebuild trust among faculty, Folt said she would “continue to try to do the things that are going well” — pointing to the dedication of the Crow Center for International and Public Affairs and Felix Field — as well as listen to community concerns and find “points of unity.”

Despite Wednesday’s attempt at outreach, some faculty members who spoke with the Daily Trojan after the meeting remained skeptical of the University’s efforts.

Laurie Brand, professor emerita of political science and international relations as well as Middle East studies, said she found some of the responses by Folt and Guzman to be “misleading” and “problematic.” Brand said she feels issues she and her colleagues working with Palestinian, Palestinian American, Arab and Arab American students have raised have been previously ignored.

“It’s just very disappointing that even after having gone through all this they’re not capable of coming up with more specific answers to address student and faculty concerns,” she said.

Brand said Folt’s suggestion to create something of a Palestinian advisory committee with a similar function to the existing Advisory Committee on Muslim Life at USC was something Brand and her colleagues had already proposed and been denied in previous years.

Janet Hoskins, a professor of anthropology and religion, said the meeting dashed the last of her hopes that Folt and Guzman could lead productive conversations.

“When [Folt] first came in as president, many of us were hopeful that this was a new era, that she was going to be a better president, and that there would be more transparency and more listening,” Hoskins said. “Unfortunately, this made clear that it was mainly lip service. She was not really offering anything different from previous administrations.”