Economics professor John Strauss will not face formal disciplinary action from USC, an internal investigation into his comments during a pro-Palestinian protest in November has concluded.
Strauss became the subject of international attention after a protest where students called attention to Palestinian civilians killed in Gaza. He was filmed saying the protesters were “ignorant” and “Hamas are murderers. That’s all they are. They should all be killed.”
Following this interaction, several students reported him to USC’s Office for Equity, Equal Opportunity, and Title IX for discrimination and harassment. An online petition circulated that garnered more than 7,000 signatures calling for his removal, and another counter petition garnered over 24,000 signatures in support of him. Strauss was placed on administrative leave for the remainder of the fall semester but returned to campus in the spring. He said that an investigative lawyer affiliated with USC interviewed students and eyewitnesses to the November incident throughout the spring semester.
Strauss said he received an email from USC on June 7 stating that all complaints against him had been dismissed and there would be no further investigation. He said he got another email on June 18 indicating the decision was final after no one had appealed. Strauss said the 7-month investigative period made him feel unsupported by the USC administration since he and his lawyer both believed he had not done anything that violated USC policy.
“The fact that [USC administration] was not supportive of me gave me the distinct impression that they did not want these kinds of statements and interactions with students,” Strauss said in an interview with Annenberg Media Monday. “I don’t feel any apologies for what I had done. I think what I did was perfectly fine. And obviously, the university has agreed because they said that there would be no disciplinary actions.”
Strauss said he is even more convinced he was right in November because of how he was treated after he returned to campus. He described an interaction with a student during the end of year pro-Palestinian protests when he was called “USC’s most racist professor.”
“I think it really vindicated what I said — that students really are ignorant about Hamas,” Strauss said. “I think unfortunately, that’s still true even today, to a large extent with what happened at Columbia and UCLA and even here with the student protesters, most of whom are not even Palestinian or not even Arab. Having the police on campus and arresting people was entirely appropriate.”
Over 37,000 people have been killed and 86,000 people have been injured in Gaza since Hamas’ October 7 attack. Since then, protests have erupted across the country on college campuses and resulted in academic consequences and police action taken against the participating students. At USC, the main stage commencement ceremony was canceled, leading to widespread criticism.
Strauss said he thought USC could have handled the commencement situation better, starting with the selection of the valedictorian, Asna Tabassum, who was ultimately barred from speaking before the main state ceremony’s cancellation.
“The choice of that particular person as valedictorian, I’m sure she was very qualified in terms of her academics, but somebody really should have done some better background checking,” Strauss said, characterizing a link to pro-Palestinian resources Tabassum had embedded in her Instagram as “pretty bad stuff” and adding he was “not the only one who feels that way.”
Above all else, Strauss said he feels good about how USC resolved the investigation into the moment that turned him into a cable news segment.
“My only criticism is I think they could and should have resolved it months earlier,” Strauss said.