Due to the protests of the war between Israel and Palestine, the University of Southern California has cancelled their main graduation ceremony and even told their valedictorian that she is not allowed to give her speech.

The event has, on average, 65,000 people attending every year consisting of family and friends to celebrate the students’ accomplishments. This year, the opportunity is being taken away from them.

It started with pro-Palestine protests that are happening across the country, UCLA and Boston’s Emerson College to name a few, and yet classes go on. USC has continued to have classes and simply shut out the public. Their solution: to hold smaller ceremonies and have more activities to make up for it. These seniors will never forget this time of their lives.

Valedictorian Asna Tabassum has been very vocal of her standing on the situation. Although the school did not address Tabassum personally, but their public statement included comments on the safety of the students and how her speech could lead to more harassment and violence within their campus.

The main fear is that this problem with protesting and arrests are going to become a trend and continue among other campuses for as long as the war goes on. The protests alone are spreading, and as long as they do not turn violent, most campuses are letting them go on, but some other colleges are making new rules. For example, Northwestern University has gone so far as to change its code of conduct.