How student protests are changing college graduations

NPR

Sequoia Carrillo

May 7, 2024

Many of this year’s graduating college students were looking forward to their first formal commencement ceremony.

“I was a 2020 graduate in high school,” says Isa Johnson, a senior at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Because of the pandemic, her high school graduation couldn’t happen in person.

She was excited to finally get a traditional graduation this year, but the unrest on her campus has forced her to adjust her expectations.

After Jewish student organizations at USC raised concerns about valedictorian Asna Tabassum’s past social media activity, the school cut Tabassum’s speech from commencement. Other students rushed to her defense, and marched on campus in support. Eventually, the administration canceled the school’s main commencement, citing safety concerns.

“We were finally going to be able to have… graduation,” Johnson says, “and then within a whole week it was all taken away.”

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