13 days that rocked USC: How a derailed commencement brought ‘complete disaster’

Protesters are detained at USC on Wednesday, when 93 people were arrested amid campus demonstrations. “It’s a complete disaster,” said Viet Thanh Nguyen, a bestselling novelist and university professor of English, American studies and ethnicity and comparative literature who has taught at USC for 27 years. “Instead, we’ve seen an effort to flee from anything remotely controversial, which I think is intellectual cowardice.” On Friday, Folt — who until then had not commented publicly on the recent events — released a letter to students, faculty and staff, saying that “the past few weeks have been incredibly difficult for all of us” and that “the current pressures and polarization have taken a toll in ways that break my heart.” Folt called on the USC community to “share points of view, listen, search for common ground — and find ways to support each other.” A group of more than 150 faculty members have released a letter demanding that the Academic Senate hold an emergency meeting to censure Folt and Guzman and hold a no-confidence vote on the leaders. “I’m looking at a roomful of multi-hyphenates,” Folt said, according to USC Today, which featured a group picture of the smiling president with Tabassum behind her in a light green hijab. Folt said students inspired her because they were “expanding that personal search for meaning to include something very important: benefiting humanity.” Pro-Israel groups quickly seized on Tabassum’s selection, accusing the university of caving to antisemitism.