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Nice speech you got there. Shame if something happened to it.

Nice speech you got there. Shame if something happened to it.

A tale of two cancellations, purportedly for "safety" reasons, from opposite ends of the political spectrum.

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Damian Penny
Apr 17, 2024
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Rigid Thinking
Nice speech you got there. Shame if something happened to it.
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Item: USC has cancelled a valedictorian’s graduation speech because of her support for the Palestinian cause:

The valedictorian at the University of Southern California has been barred from delivering a graduation speech due to “security” fears after she was accused of promoting “anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric.”

Asna Tabassum, a biomedical engineering major, had been chosen from about 100 applicants with GPAs of 3.98 or higher to deliver the valedictory address, the Los Angeles Times reported.

But the decision sparked outrage as several on- and off-campus groups flagged her views, with one group saying she “openly promotes antisemitic writings.”

Critics cited the senior’s minor — resistance to genocide — and “likes” on her Instagram account, where her bio links to a page that says “learn about what’s happening in Palestine, and how to help.”

USC Provost Andrew Guzman announced the decision to bar Tabassum in a campuswide message, in which he cited unnamed threats after the student …

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