No farewell speech. There are no famous speakers. There was no ceremony on the main stage and no mass walk of graduates to “Pomp and Circumstance” before tens of thousands of guests.
Instead, USC graduating seniors will have an alternative party Thursday night, a “Trojan Family Graduate Celebration,” at the Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, on the eve of smaller graduation ceremonies at the campus where diplomas will be awarded at individual school events.
Thursday night's event was billed as an “electric atmosphere,” limited to a maximum of six tickets per graduate, with a drone show, fireworks and a “special gift” for the class of 2024: a baseball cap. Travis Scott's college clothing brand.
The university had billed it as a “Southern California-style” celebration to make up for the loss of the traditional main stage ceremony with valedictory and commencement addresses and the presentation of honorary degrees. But unrest and protests at universities over the war between Israel and Hamas disrupted the ritual.
Citing unspecified security threats, USC President Carol Folt rescinded pro-Palestinian valedictorian Asna Tabassum's speaking slot and then canceled the main ceremony. After students set up a pro-Palestinian tent camp and demanded that USC sever its financial ties to Israel, Folt and her team called the Los Angeles Police Department and 93 people were arrested. On Sunday morning, police cleared a second camp, but no arrests were made.
On Wednesday, USC President Carol Folt and Provost Andrew Guzmán were censured by the Academic Senate, a body of USC faculty representatives. Members cited “widespread dissatisfaction and concern among faculty over administrative actions and decisions related to the protests and graduation.”
Folt defended his actions, saying in an interview with The Times that campus security is his “north star.”
“For me, I have a very clear north star: that I am the person at the university, no matter how complicated the issue is and how much I empathize with everyone involved, which has been true for me, in the end I still have to do it. sit down and say, 'What can I do to keep my campus and my people as safe as possible?'”
Typically, the annual Baccalaureate Ceremony, an interfaith and nondenominational celebration, is held on the eve of graduation in Bovard Auditorium in the center of campus. An “in-person blessing” is planned for the Coliseum party this year, as well as an “online interfaith blessing” that can be viewed on a graduation website.
Security at the Coliseum before the on-campus graduation was tight.
On Thursday, access to the USC campus, already restricted to USC students, faculty, staff and registered guests, became even stricter. Students and staff had to show a USC ID, and anyone else trying to access campus needed a graduation ticket.
Metal fences and black gates were placed around the campus. Guests passed through metal detectors and were asked to carry clear purses or bags. Since Sunday's camp raid, USC officers from several law enforcement agencies have been stationed in the center of campus.
“They include officers from the Baldwin Park Police Department, the La Habra Police Department, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Airport Police,” according to David Carlisle, deputy director of the university's Department of Public Safety.
