Students at the University of South California (USC) organized a silent march on Thursday in support of biomedical engineering student Asna Tabassum, a Muslim student and this year's valedictorian, whose speech has been cancelled by the university citing safety concerns and passions around the latest Middle East conflict.

USC Provost Andrew Guzman said in a statement on Monday that the decision to scrub the traditional valedictorian address at next month's graduation had "nothing to do with freedom of speech" and was simply aimed at protecting campus security.

In her own statement, Tabassum challenged the university's rationale, questioning "whether USC's decision to revoke my invitation to speak is made solely on the basis of safety."

Tabassum was chosen valedictorian from nearly 100 applicants submitted from among the more than 200 graduating seniors who qualified for the honor based on their gradepointaverages, according to USC.

The university had not asked for an advanced copy of Tabassum's address before withdrawing her invitation to speak, and she had not even begun working on her speech, said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American Islamic Relations, an advocacy group that circulated her statement.

The council launched an online campaign calling for USC to reinstate Tabassum's invitation to speak.

(Production: Ashraf Fahim, Jose Pablo Diaz)

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