Hi there,

There has never been a more urgent time for courageous, daily, independent news. Media is essential to the functioning of a democratic society. Today is Giving Tuesday, a day dedicated to supporting non-profits. Please make it Giving NewsDay by giving to this non-profit news organization. Thanks to a group of generous donors, all donations made today will be TRIPLED, which means your $15 gift is worth $45. With your contribution, we can continue to go to where the silence is, to bring you the voices of the silenced majority – those calling for peace in a time of war, demanding action on the climate catastrophe and advocating for racial and economic justice. Every dollar makes a difference. Thank you so much!

Democracy Now!
Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

USC Valedictorian Asna Tabassum Gets Standing Ovation at Pared-Down Graduation

HeadlineMay 10, 2024

The University of Southern California hosted its alternative graduation event Thursday evening after calling off its mainstage ceremony. USC announced it was not holding its typical commencement ceremony this year amid a national backlash for canceling valedictorian Asna Tabassum’s speech after she was subjected to an online hate campaign for expressing solidarity with Palestine. Asna Tabassum’s fellow graduates erupted into cheers as she was acknowledged at Thursday’s graduation.

Announcer: “Asna will graduate with a Bachelor of Science in biomedical engineering, molecular and cellular engineering and a minor in resistance to genocide. You may not know this, but Asna is USC’s 2024 valedictorian.”

Click here to see our interview with Asna Tabassum, the valedictorian at USC, and our coverage of this issue.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top