Few West Coast universities rival the magnificence of the principles of the University of Southern California. Flags are waving. Trumpets resound. Tens of thousands of relatives from around the world fill the Los Angeles campus, cheering on the newly minted graduates. Dining under chandeliers and keynote speakers: Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios, took the stage last year to the “Avengers” theme song before delivering the opening keynote.
This week, however, the specter has been sorely tested, swamped by weeks of protest and controversy on campus. The Class of 2024 will have no grand opening on the main stage, no Hollywood executive dispensing wisdom to graduates from across the university.
While smaller celebrations will be held at the university’s 23 schools and academic units, at least two keynote speakers publicly withdrew from the school of education’s commencement and others quietly dropped out at the last minute.
The dramatic arts school confirmed Monday that Liza Colón-Zayas, who plays Tina on the FX series “The Bear,” is “no longer able to join us.” Actor Jaren Lewison, of the Netflix series “Never Have I Ever,” pulled out this week from his commitment to address thousands of graduates at two major events for the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, the school confirmed Wednesday. Two of the three speakers at the engineering school’s ceremony have suddenly disappeared from the school’s graduation website.
The leafy campus — usually lined with rows of folding chairs this time of year, as if it were a mass wedding — has been closed off to non-accredited visitors behind a TSA-like system of checkpoints. Traffic will be strictly controlled at first. Alumni families will need special digital tickets to move between venues. Bags will be searched and banners, beach umbrellas, selfie sticks and other equipment likely to be reused for political protest will be confiscated.
A hastily arranged party at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum will offer some semblance of the usual pomp, but how many of the 18,000 graduates and their families will attend the weeklong event is unclear.
“Some of my friends say they’re just going to go and boo the administration,” said Ella Blaine, 23, who blamed senior university leaders for derailing her graduation from the School of Dramatic Arts. A self-described “fourth-generation Tour” from Pasadena, Ms. Blaine, who has spent much of her life imagining her own USC commencement, called this year’s graduation “a joke.”
As student protests over Israel’s war on Gaza clash with commencements across the country, universities are scrambling to preserve a piece of the timeless rite of passage. In this globally conflicted moment, that aspiration turns out to be a tall order: a ceremony that somehow honors a sea of hooded young people and thousands of their loved ones without infringing on free speech, stifling jubilation, or enabling ruthless demonstrations.
In some schools, this challenge was daunting. Last weekend, protesters disrupted ceremonies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Indiana University in Bloomington and Northeastern University in Boston.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, dropped out as the University of Vermont’s commencement speaker under pressure from student groups opposed to the Biden administration’s support for Israel. Arizona’s public universities stepped up security and closed campuses ahead of this week’s ceremonies. On Monday, Columbia University canceled its main commencement ceremony, leaving only smaller, individual school events.
At USC, where commencement ceremonies are set to begin Wednesday, university leaders are trying to hold together the school’s storied graduation amid backlash over a series of moves aimed, ironically, at dealing with potential conflict and unrest.
In mid-April, USC canceled a speech by its seminary professor Asna Tabassum after pro-Israel groups protested a pro-Palestinian link in her social media bio. Four days later, the university announced it was “redesigning commencement” and canceled its keynote address by an alumnus, Jon M. Chu, director of “Crazy Rich Asians.”
“The professor at USC called me to work,” said Marcia McNutt, president of the National Academy of Sciences, who was slated to receive an honorary degree. “They just said that, given the turmoil, they thought it best to postpone the honorary degrees, and I said I totally agree.”
The decision escalated the uproar. Pro-Palestinian students tried to set up an encampment on campus days later, and university officials called the Los Angeles police. The demonstration that followed resulted in the arrest of 93 people, more than a third of whom were unrelated to the campus. The university announced the next day that it was canceling its main commencement entirely.
Since then, USC has struggled to manage the fallout.
“This was just a train wreck,” said Ms. Blain’s mother, Annette Ricchiazzi, 52, a USC graduate and former university employee, referring to university leadership’s “inconsistent and confusing” handling of cancellations and protests. “A lot of parents are disgusted and outraged.”
In messages to the campus, President Carol Folt emphasized the university’s respect for free speech and its responsibility to protect students. Missives have alternately announced that the protesters will be referred for disciplinary action and that plans for some 47 satellite launch ceremonies are “in full swing”.
And normality has prevailed, in some corners of the campus of 47,000 students.
A representative for actor Sean Penn — known for his progressive positions on international issues — confirmed that he remained on track to address graduates of the pharmacy school, which partnered with the Community Organized Relief Effort, a nonprofit he co-founded, to the distribution of Covid -19 vaccinations at Dodger Stadium during the pandemic.
California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu, who is one of the state’s best-known liberal jurists, has remained committed to giving the keynote address at the law school, according to Merrill Balassone, a spokeswoman.
Phil Chan, co-founder of Final Bow for Yellowface, an organization pushing to eliminate demeaning depictions of Asians in ballet, said he will maintain his commitment to the dance school to promote his message of inclusion.
And yet, he admitted, “it’s a very uncomfortable position to be in.”
Instead, authors C Pam Zhang and Safiya Umoja Noble, a MacArthur Fellow, withdrew as keynote speakers for commencement ceremonies at the Rossier School of Education — citing the invitation of police to the campus, the arrest of dozens of protesters and the decision to censor Ms. Tabasum . And Mr. Lewison, who is Jewish, postponed his engagement as keynote speaker for two commencements at Dornsife College. The college said Wednesday that the new speaker will be Jane Coston, a fellow at USC’s Center for Political Futures and a contributing writer for The New York Times.
At the engineering school where Mrs. Tabassum, the owner, will graduate, professors were trying to resurrect her opportunity to speak.
A resolution of the engineering school’s faculty executive board asked her to address its commencement ceremony. The dean of the school, Yiannis X. Giortsos, did not respond to questions about whether the request would be approved.
And a petition, signed by 400 professors and expected to be discussed by the faculty senate on Wednesday, demands the university apologize to Ms. Tabassum and also calls for the censure of both Dr. Folt and the university professor.
Adding to the drama: the engineering school’s website no longer lists two previously announced commencement speakers: Kevin Crawford Knight, chief scientist at ride-hailing company Didi Global, and Zohreh Khademi, a Microsoft executive. A school spokesman did not respond to questions about whether Ms. Khademi and Mr. Knight had withdrawn, and neither could be reached for comment.
A university committee had chosen Ms. Tabassum, who is Muslim and of South Asian descent, from about 100 undergraduates with a grade point average of nearly 4.0. Her selection as commencement speaker sparked a bitter backlash from several pro-Israel groups. which objected to a pro-Palestinian website she had linked to on a social media account.
Citing threats of a “shutdown,” the university canceled the eulogy, a campus tradition.
Ms. Tabassum, who grew up east of Los Angeles in San Bernardino County, said in a statement that she was “deeply disappointed” and questioned the school’s motives. Now she faces harassment. An organization called Accuracy in Media, known for doxxing students, published a website calling USC’s “top anti-Semites.”
Hossein Hashemi, an engineering professor, said Ms. Tabashum, an aspiring doctor, is widely respected by the faculty. “At this point, she probably wishes she wasn’t even elected as a prelate,” said Dr. Hashemi, who is leading a campaign on her behalf.
Not all splendor is lost. The school’s last-minute party Thursday night will include the Trojan Marching Band, fireworks and a drone show.
“I’m not going to lie, it sounds like a cool event,” said Dustin Jeffords, 37, who will receive a master’s degree in communications management. He, his wife, his parents, his in-laws and his two brothers plan to be there.
Still, he said, having come to college late after military service, he was especially excited for USC’s grand opening, with its bells and whistles, given the sacrifice that earned it.
“As great as these convocation ceremonies are, the big one with all the pomp and circumstance is such a big deal and something I’ve been looking forward to,” he said. “To have the finish line disappear before your eyes is disappointing.”
