Several dozen pro-Palestinian students began an occupation of USC’s Alumni Park on Wednesday, April 24, and issued a list of demands including university divestment from any organizations that “profit from Israeli apartheid, genocide and occupation in Palestine.”
The action added USC to a growing list of college campuses across the nation that have seen encampments and ongoing protests over the continuing Israel-Hamas war, most notably Columbia University. USC’s Alumni Park is scheduled to host the university’s already headline-making commencement ceremony on May 10.
Organizers of the USC occupation — identifying themselves as the USC Divest from Death Coalition — issued a statement saying the action is “in solidarity with the people of Palestine as they resist genocide and continue in their struggle for liberation. …
“The occupation is also in resistance to attempts by USC and other universities to suppress the student movement for Palestine on its campuses, in resistance to the silencing of students that criticize the state of Israel, in resistance to the university administrators and boards of trustees who profit off the genocide of Palestinians,” the statement said.
Several dozen students began the encampment early Wednesday morning. USC police instructed students to not hang signs, flags or other materials from trees and posts in the park, and warned them to not use megaphones.
Students at times broke into chants of “Free Palestine!”
The group’s other posted demands include a complete academic boycott of Israel, including an end to study-abroad programs in the area and cutting ties with Israeli universities; protection of free speech of students voicing support for Palestine; and demanding the university issue a public statement “calling for an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza, denouncing the ongoing genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people and call on government officials to do so too.”
USC made national headlines in recent weeks over its decision to bar pro-Palestinian valedictorian Asna Tabassum from speaking during commencement. The move came following complaints about some of Tabassum’s online posts, including a link to a website advocating the abolition of Israel.
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University officials insisted the decision was done not for political reasons, but due to security concerns, given the tenor of the discourse over the issue of Tabassum. Organizations including the Muslim Public Affairs Council, the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Los Angeles and the ACLU of Southern California have denounced the decision and demanded the university reverse course.
USC Provost Andrew Guzman insisted in his message announcing the decision that the move in no way diminished “the remarkable academic achievements of any student considered or selected for valedictorian. To be clear: this decision has nothing to do with freedom of speech. There is no free-speech entitlement to speak at a commencement. The issue here is how best to maintain campus security and safety, period. …
“The intensity of feelings, fueled by both social media and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, has grown to include many voices outside of USC and has escalated to the point of creating substantial risks relating to security and disruption at commencement,” he added. “We cannot ignore the fact that similar risks have led to harassment and even violence at other campuses.”