Above photo: “University of Southern California George Finley Bovard Administration Building.” greatdegree.
Senate votes 21-7 to censure President Carol Folt and Provost Andrew Guzman.
Vote underscores a palpable unease among the USC academic senate regarding the administration’s recent handling of student protests and commencement.
After a three hour meeting of the University of Southern California (USC) academic senate with President Carol Folt and Provost Andrew Guzman, the faculty decisively passed a resolution with 21-7 majority, censuring both Folt and Guzman.
USC has garnered local and national attention recently sparked by the cancellation of valedictorian Asna Tabassum’s commencement address. The attention has intensified after the university’s brutal crackdown on student divestment protests, which included the arrest of 93 protestors by LAPD, and overall cancellation of this year’s commencement ceremony.
The resolution cites “widespread dissatisfaction and concern among the faculty,” of the administration and called on a task force investigation into the actions, decisions and communication surrounding the events.
Folt and Guzman welcomed the task force but failed to respond to faculty questions regarding the specific safety concerns the administration previously cited for canceling the commencement address and later ceremony.
“Faculty always want to know data and evidence, and I understand the expectation is, and what I’ve experienced everywhere, the one thing that people do not share are threats,” Folt said, according to USC Annenberg Media.
Although the Senate had tabled a motion calling for a vote of no confidence earlier in the meeting according to USC Annenberg Media, the final vote to censure resulted in 21 members of the Academic Senate voted in favor of censuring, seven voted to oppose the measure and six abstained.