Students at the University of Southern California responded after the institution’s decision to cancel the main commencement ceremony. Tracey Leong reports for the NBC4 News on April 26, 2024.
After weeks of protest and over 100 arrests, the University of Southern California's President, Carol L. Folt, has officially released a statement regarding graduation and the recent events.
Folt points out that Alumni Park inside USC's campus was deemed "unsafe" and the arrests were made in violation of "long-standing safety policies."
The president said that the university has protocols that allow for peaceful protests and has "been working successfully with our community to ensure these rules have been followed at gatherings, protests, and vigils taking place all year."
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As of Friday, USC is enacting guidelines to limit social activities on campus. The guidelines comply with the student handbook which designates Saturday, April 27 through Tuesday, April 30 as “quiet days” or “study days."
Holt confirms that USC's graduation ceremony will be going a different route with "new activities, surprises, and celebrations, while upholding traditions that are uniquely USC."
USC announced Thursday it was canceling one of the key events of the 2024 commencement ceremonies amid unrest following the mass protest on campus and the cancelation of the undergraduate valedictorian’s commencement speech.
“A lot of people are empathetic to both sides, I am empathetic to both sides, I am a Jewish student and want life for all, humanity and I want peace and a lot of people like me which are the majority of students at USC are upset about this commencement being canceled because we’ve been working towards this moment for so long,” said senior USC student, Logan Barth.
In the center of campus, Pro-Palestinian protests continued on Friday, where the campus is still closed following the unrest. While some pro-Palestinian protestors said they were happy the graduation ceremony was canceled, others felt it wouldn't resolve the tension.
“Make both sides angrier, it doesn’t impact the demands, it just makes everyone mad in the situation. Honestly going to increase tensions from students to the school students to each other who have different viewpoints,” said a pro-Palestinian USC Student who didn't want to be identified.
The university has also implemented new security measures for the commencement event.
