USC Cancels Graduation Keynote By Filmmaker Amid Controversy Over Decision To Drop Student's Speech
HuffPost
The University of Southern California is further shaking up its commencement plans.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The University of Southern California further shook up its commencement plans Friday, announcing the cancelation of a keynote speech by filmmaker Jon M. Chu just days after making the controversial choice to disallow the student valedictorian from speaking.
The private university in Los Angeles on Monday said it was canceling valedictorian Asna Tabassum’s speech at the May 10 ceremony because of safety concerns. Tabassum, who is Muslim, has expressed support for Palestinians in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, and university officials said the response to her selection as valedictorian had “taken on an alarming tenor.” They did not cite any specific threats.
The university’s decision was met with praise from pro-Israel organizations but condemnation from free speech groups and the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Students and faculty marched across campus Thursday in silent protest of the university’s decision.
Now, university officials say they are “redesigning” the entire commencement program.
“Given the highly publicized circumstances surrounding our main-stage commencement program, university leadership has decided it is best to release our outside speakers and honorees from attending this year’s ceremony,” the university said in an unsigned statement posted Friday. “We’ve been talking to this exceptional group and hope to confer these honorary degrees at a future commencement or other academic ceremonies.”
The Supreme Court justice questioned the legality of mail-in voting based on the name of a holiday.
Noem lost her spot as homeland security's top leader earlier this month after getting grilled about the sky-high ad budget she approved.
The president’s plan is an unhelpful distraction at best and could actually make things more dangerous, TSA union leaders say.
“Stop truck one! STOP.”
Hundreds of thousands of Homeland Security workers, including from the TSA, U.S. Secret Service and Coast Guard, have worked without pay since Congress failed to renew DHS funding last month.
U.S. Will Hold Off On Iran Power Plant Strikes For 5 Days, Extending Trump Deadline On Hormuz Strait
The state-owned IRAN newspaper said Iran’s Foreign Ministry denied that any negotiations have taken place with the U.S.
The newspaper told the president "exactly" why his insults weren't valid.
Follow the latest news on the major headlines of the day.
The CNN data analyst also found a number that made him say "yikes."
The newspaper's editorial board dropped a damning reality check on the president's war messaging.
Chad Bianco took nearly 1,000 boxes of ballots and election materials from the county's elections office in February.
Jessi Pierce, 37, covered the Minnesota Wild as a correspondent for NHL.com for the past decade.
The president has been vocal about being a "president for life" since at least 2018.