In a ceremony filled with speeches from USC professors, impressive public and private security, and police dogs, more than 22,000 people, including students and their families, celebrated an atypical graduation at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum,
There was not a single word in reference to the student protests on the USC campus about the pro-Palestine protesters against Israel’s “genocide” in the Gaza Strip and the 93 who were arrested by the Los Angeles police, nor of their Demands for divestment from companies that promote the war that has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
There was also no indication of the cancellation of the official farewell speech that the valedictorian student, Asna Tabassum, who had the best grades of the 2024 generation, would make.
Censorship of USC leaders
“We all have the right to freedom of expression and I don’t agree with them, but I also didn’t like that they canceled the main graduation ceremony,” said Brenda Hernández, a graduate student with a master’s degree in Public Health.
Regarding Asna Tabassum he declared that “I was happy because she had deserved the honor of giving the speech; I think she worked very hard to earn it and she deserved to give her speech in whatever way she wanted. “It was a mistake for the university to have canceled her participation.”
Likewise, he considered that the LAPD intervention on the USC campus “should never have happened nor should they have been allowed to enter here or other campuses.”
The decisions of USC President Carol Folt and Chancellor Andrew Guzmán and their handling of the student crisis and changes to graduation activities were officially censured by the university’s Academic Senate.
The resolution approved 21 votes to seven with six abstentions supported the immediate creation of a working group that would produce a public report that investigates the controversies that arose and “the associated administrative decisions and communications.”
Among the points of investigation are the expulsion from campus of Professor John Strauss, the cancellation of Asna Tabassum’s speech and the protests in the pro-Palestine student camp that turned into demonstrations of anti-Semitism and the intervention – twice – of the LAPD .
Fight against anger, grief and fears
“Generally [la graduación] It is a time of great celebration,” said Varun Soni, dean of Religious Life at USC, during the opening of the graduation ceremony.
“In our community we are struggling deeply with anger, with grief and with fear. And yet, what connects us all is fully realized. As human beings it is as if we all want to turn our pain into hope.”
Varun Soni stated that, to turn fear into love, “we all want to be part of the solution to the crises in the world and not part of the problem.”
He warned graduate students at the University of Southern California that by leaving campus and taking their place and making a difference in a rapidly changing world, they would face five major crises: war, justice, health, sustainability, and a fifth. crisis of joy.
“Without resolving the fifth crisis, we will not be able to resolve the other four,” he said.
Police repression at USC
USC authorities determined that the main ceremony was canceled, amid peaceful protests in the Alumni Park area, which were repressed by university security personnel and LAPD officers.
On a wind-chilled night Thursday, the “party” or “Trojan Family Graduate Celebration” at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum included a performance by the USC cheerleaders, the Trojan Marching Band and fireworks.
However, there was no graduate parade, and students who wore their cap and gown were sporadic.
“They finished something and now all they have to do is work for the next 40 to 60 years, unless they majored in philosophy,” joked TV host Jimmy Kimmel. “But this class has been through a lot of things that most classes don’t have to deal with, and for that they should be proud.”
This year, USC also canceled the awarding of any honorary degrees and presentations by filmmaker Jon M. Chu, National Endowment for the Arts President Maria Rosario Jackson, tennis legend Billie Jean King, and Academy President National Science, Marcia McNutt.
Perseverance was the key to graduating
“I am happy to have achieved my dream,” said Brenda Hernández, after earning a master’s degree in Public Health at USC.
Daughter of Francisco and María Hernández, the recent graduate explained that achieving the goal she had set for herself was difficult, “because the pandemic hit us.”
“The easiest part was making connections and friends throughout the school program,” she said. “In five years I see myself working with the experts who work for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
“That would be amazing,” he said. “Many members of my family have died from cancer, including an aunt, Silvia Hernández, and my grandfather, Eliseo.”
Its goal is to help find a solution to prevent cancer or also how to prevent hemorrhagic strokes, like the one that happened to his father, in July 2022.
“The tragedy that happened to my husband caused him to lose his memory a little, but he is already recovering,” said María Hernández. “It has been a difficult two years, but my daughter was determined to move forward, also taking care of her father.”
Don Francisco, who was in a coma for a month due to the hemorrhagic stroke, showed no signs of forgetting things. Quite the opposite.
“Since she was born, my daughter has worked a lot, especially in the studio and we had no doubt that she was going to achieve something great,” said the man born in Zamora, Michoacán. “She was born in the coldest winter we have had here in Los Angeles 28 years ago, when even snow fell.”
Brenda has three other siblings: Jacob and Samantha Hernández and Tarah Pérez.
SIDE
“Give it a try. Follow him. Yes you can”
When young Ulises Martínez wanted to give up and could have dropped out of university, the advice of his parents, Lucas Martínez and Catalina Ojeda, both from Tlacolula, Oaxaca, revived him.
“The truth was it was a little difficult, but with the help of my parents, I think that made the whole process easier,” declared the recent Human Biology graduate from USC.
In addition to the financial help from his parents, Ulises also heard that they always told him: “Go ahead, follow him. Yes you can and now we are here.”
Ulises, 22 years old, wanted to become a professional soccer player, and, because his dream could not come true, he decided to study Human Biology because he wants to help athletes.
“With my career, I think I could join and work with a professional soccer team, and if they were the UNAM Pumas, much better,” he said.