USC Cancels Graduation Commencement Following Anti-Israel Protests

April 26, 2024

OANN reports that the University of Southern California (USC) will not be holding a commencement ceremony this year due to concerns over student safety.

The concerns stem from a pro-Hamas demonstration that took place on Wednesday on the university’s Los Angeles campus. That demonstration resulted in 93 arrests and in the campus being closed “until further notice.”

According to OANN, the May 10th main stage ceremony will be canceled and instead, USC will host dozens of smaller graduation ceremonies for its individual schools. The school’s main commencement ceremony typically draws around 65,000 attendees.

Film director John Chu was to be the keynote speaker at this year’s canceled event.

In a statement, the university said, “We understand that this is disappointing; however, we are adding many new activities and celebrations to make this commencement academically meaningful, memorable, and uniquely USC.”

The cancellation of this year’s commencement is another blow to the Class of 2024 which also saw its high school graduation ceremonies canceled over concerns about covid-19 in 2020.

Photo: top, Credit: David McNew/Getty Images