USC valedictorian Asna Tabassum stands by views that got her barred as graduation speaker

The University of Southern California valedictorian who was barred from delivering a commencement speech while accused of promoting antisemitic rhetoric has doubled down on her views.

“I stand by exactly what I stand by,” Asna Tabassum told KABC-TV Wednesday of the views that led to her ban. “It is the very values and the very lessons USC taught me that I stand by.”

The biomedical engineering major with a 3.98 grade point average spoke to the Los Angeles station after her speech was shelved due to “security” fears after she was accused of promoting “anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric.”

University officials made the about-face after several on- and off-campus groups complained that the brainiac, who minors in resistance to genocide, “openly promotes antisemitic writings.”