USC holds a cheerful 142nd commencement a year after graduation controversy

A year after abruptly canceling its “main stage” graduation ceremony amidst pro-Palestine protests on campus, the University of Southern California gave graduates the sendoff they had hoped for in 2025—complete with fireworks, drones and some 50,000 cheering attendees.

On Thursday, May 15, the university conferred more than 18,000 degrees during its 142nd commencement ceremony, held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The venue, set to host the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, marks a break from the ceremony’s traditional on-campus location at Alumni Park.

The event kicked off promptly at 7 p.m., with the ceremonial lighting of the Olympic torch and ended at 9:40 p.m. with a dazzling drone show and fireworks.

Filmmaker Jon Chu, a USC alumnus known for directing the films “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Wicked,” delivered the keynote speech—a year after his scheduled appearance was canceled amid last year’s commencement controversy.

In his speech, Chu reflected on breaking into Hollywood as an Asian American filmmaker and learning to embrace his identity rather than minimize it.

“When I was sitting where you are tonight, I was terrified about where to start,” he said. “I didn’t want to be an Asian filmmaker, I just wanted to be a filmmaker.”

That changed, he said, when he heard a quote that stayed with him: “Worry is the misuse of imagination.”

As “Congratulations Graduates” scrolled across the stadium board, rows of students clad in red robes turned their tassels to mark their transformation from students to alumni. The crowd erupted as drones lit up the night sky, forming a Trojan warrior, the “Fight on” hand sign, and “Class of 2025.”

In her remarks, USC President Carol Folt celebrated the resilience of the graduating class, which included 1,534 first-generation students, 728 graduates and undergraduate veterans and military affiliates, she said.

“I’m really proud to stand with this class, because you’re an incredible group,” she said. “You mastered chaos and Covid and churn, and you did it with care, with creativity, and boy do you have some confidence.”

Folt also emphasized the importance of open dialogue and intellectual exchange.

“You know, discoveries do not advance without pushback, creative practice only thrives on the critique of peers, and the response of audiences,” Folt said. “And it’d be a pretty boring place if we all agreed about everything. And don’t worry, we clearly don’t, but I believe we are absolutely the better for it.”

Graduates filled the field, seated in neat rows of white chairs, while spectators packed the stands around the stadium. Many students added personal touches to their caps–flowers, glitters, and stickers–while some snuck in last-minute photos just before the ceremony began.

This year’s cheerful celebration stood in stark contrast to 2024, when the university canceled its main ceremony following campus protests that erupted over the war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups.

The unrest last year was also fueled by the university’s decision to bar valedictorian Asna Tabassum, a Chino Hills resident, from speaking, following complaints about Tabassum’s online posts that critics called antisemitic. The university’s decision drew mixed emotion from students and families, many of whom felt they were denied a meaningful rite of passage.

In a shift from tradition this year, USC eliminated the valedictorian speech altogether. Typically awarded to students with a GPA of 3.98 or higher, the role was replaced by an open call for student commencement speakers.

Those with a GPA of 3.5 or above were invited to submit a speech, and from that group, Meghan Anand, a graduate of the USC Marshall School of Business, was selected to represent the Class of 2025.

Anand reflected on the unseen moments that defined the Class of 2025’s experience and the enduring bonds of the Trojan Family. She also reminded her peers that success isn’t just about speed, but about lifting each other up.

“One thing USC has taught us is that success isn’t just about efficiency—it’s about elevation,” Anand said. “And the best part? The Trojan Family doesn’t end at graduation. It’s the familiar ‘Fight On’ in an airport halfway across the world, it’s the phone call that lands you your dream job five years from now, the reminder that no matter where we go, we carry this community with us.”

In his keynote speech, Jon Chu told the graduates they will face challenges, saying, “We think so deeply about what can go wrong, we leave no room for the imagination of what happens when it all goes right. If we can redirect that imagination towards creation, we stop merely performing inherited scripts and start authoring our own. And your true legacy isn’t something you’re going to leave behind, it’s the harmful pattern you recognize and change.”

Chu encouraged graduates to chart their own paths.

“You have an extraordinary story, every single one of you, and I deeply, deeply believe in you,” he said. “You will go through tough times, terrifying times, even, but your beautiful brain will figure out creative ways to get out of it, and your ferocity will get you through it.”