@elsantonegro Here's the text:

Statement by UnIversity of Southem California Student Asna Tabassum Class of 2024 Valedictorian:

I am honored to have been selected as USC Class of 2024 Valedictorian. Although this should have been a time of celebration for my family, friends, professors, and classmates, anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian voices have subjected me to a campaign of racist hatred because of my uncompromising belief in human tights for all.

This campaign to prevent me from addressing my peers at commencement has evidently accomplished its goal: today, USC administrators informed me that the university will no longer allow me to speak at commencement due to supposed security concems. I am both shocked by this decision and profoundly disappointed that the University is succumbing to a campaign of hate meant to silence my voice.

I am not surprised by those who attempt to propagate hatred. I am surprised that my own university—my home for four years—has abandoned me.

In a meeting with the USC Provost and the Associate Senior Vice President of Safety and Risk Assurance on April 14, I asked about the alleged safety concerns and was told that the University had the resources to take appropriate safety measures for my valedictory speech, but that they would not be doing so since increased security protections is not what the University wants to "present as an image.°
Because I am not aware of any spedfic threats against me or the university, because my request for the details underlying the university's threat assessment has been denied, and because I am not being provided any increased safety to be able to speak at commencement, there remain serious doubts about whether USC's dedsion to revoke my invitation to speak is made solely on the basis of safety.

Instead of allowing the campaign of hatred to define who I am and what I stand for, let me therefore take this opportunity to tell you about myself.

I am a first-generation South Asian-American Muslim whose passion for service stems from the experience of my grandparents, who were unable to access lifesaving medical technology because they had been displaced by communal violence.

I am a biomedical engineer who learned the meaning of health equity through developing low-cost and accessible jaundice for babies whose darker skin color conceals the visual yellowing of their complexion.

I am a proud Trojan who loves my campus that has enabled me to go from building a walker to shipping medical gowns to Ukraine to writing about the Rwandan Genocide to taking blood pressure measurements for our neighbors in Skid Row.

I am a student of history who chose to minor in resistance to genocide, anchored by the Shoah Foundation, and have learned that ordinary people are capable of unspeakable acts of violence when they are taught hate fueled by fear. And due to widespread fear, I was hoping to use my commencement speech to inspire my classmates with a message of hope. By canceling my speech, USC is only caving to fear and rewarding hatred.

@[email protected] I humbly suggest "Frankenstein vs Baragon" for a future #monsterdon poll, because I am sold on the first sentence in its wikipedia plot summary:

"During World War II in Nazi Germany, Nazi officers confiscate the living heart of the Frankenstein Monster from Dr. Riesendorf and pass it on to the Imperial Japanese Navy, who take it to a research facility in Hiroshima for further experimentation."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein_vs._Baragon

Folks, the alt-text efforts seem to be diminishing. I see a lot of stuff that I'd like to boost, but I've now been properly trained to expect alt-text on pictures (good, descriptive stuff that stands in for the image).

I'm not being pushy, just trying to be considerate of the Mastodon community that has trouble with images. I tend to unfollow accounts that post images without alt text - Not as a punitive thing, but to reduce my temptation to boost them.

For those of you scrolling through your timeline, you're about to hit a big mass of Monsterdon postings about It Came from Outer Space (and from 1953).

Should you not wish to read through them, here's how to filter them out, at least on the web browser:
1) right click on the gears & open in a new tab
2) choose "Filters" then "Add New Filter"
3) give the filter a title, check all boxes under contexts, choose hide completely and put "#Monsterdon" in the keyword box.
4) Click on "Save New Filter"

... and you're done.

This movies working title was "Fahrenheit 92".

#Monsterdon #ItCameFromOuterSpace