At least 20 demonstrators from groups like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Faculty for Justice in Palestine (FJP) gathered outside Town and Gown, holding a vigil during President Carol Folt’s annual holiday reception on Monday. The attendees of the vigil said they were there to memorialize Palestinian lives lost since Oct 7, 2023.
The vigil began at 5:30 p.m. just off of Childs Way next to the Newman Recital Hall, where student and faculty demonstrators held up posters displaying images of Palestinian civilians killed. A list with the names of hundreds of civilians killed since October 7 was also displayed on the ground just outside the event in the demonstration area.
“Quietest protest I’ve ever seen,” a faculty member leaving the celebration said.
Janis Yue, a USC Assistant Professor of Clinical Occupational Therapy and FJP member, said this event was important to mourn those killed and also to directly address President Folt and other USC administration.
“We wanted to call out the contradiction of people feeling comfortable celebrating at this university when Palestinian families and children are not afforded that same right,” Yue said.
Yue also said that this vigil was also organized to show unity between SJP and FJP in the wake of administrative efforts to retaliate against pro-Palestinian demonstrators in the wake of the encampments that took place in April.
“I think we have so much to learn from the students who have taken such a principled and brave stand against the genocide and put their own futures on the line because of it,” Yue said. “I haven’t seen many faculty really going to the same lengths, even though, in a lot of ways, we also have a lot more relative privilege.”
Demonstrators wore keffiyehs and masks with red tape on them.
Yue said the red tape was “an intentional visual created to really protest a culture of silencing and repression when it comes specifically to free speech around advocating for Palestinian Liberation.”
A DPS officer filmed demonstrators and journalists in attendance. Additional officers were positioned across from the check-in station as guests arrived at the holiday party. A passerby chanted “Am Yisrael Chai,” at the demonstrators as they walked by. The Hebrew saying translates to “the people of Israel live,” in English.
The vigil concluded around 6:50 p.m. after which attendees moved closer to the celebration area and began chanting “Free, Free Palestine.” Five DPS officers stood between them and the reception area as they chanted for 45 minutes before leaving around 7:30 p.m.. Reception attendees were escorted out of a separate entrance.
Annenberg Media asked President Folt for a comment on the vigil as she was leaving the event.
“I think it’s their right to do that and they’re expressing themselves,” Folt said. She declined to respond to any further questions about protests on campus.
Yue said Folt had not made further attempts to meet with SJP or FJP since LAPD took down the pro-Palestinian encampments on Alumni Park in earlier in the year.
“It’s been really disappointing,” Yue said. “We’ve attempted to have good faith meetings with the administration, including President Folt but we’ve only ever really received boilerplate letters that come off as very impersonal and quite frankly performative.”