The University of Southern California’s president has called recent controversies roiling the campus over the Israel-Hamas war “incredibly difficult for all of us.” President Carol Folt made her first public statement in nearly two weeks late Friday. She condemned this week’s protests, where 90 demonstrators were arrested by police in riot gear, while imploring the campus community to find common ground and ways to support each other. Folt’s prior silence had been heavily criticized by students, faculty and alumni as they demanded answers for the university’s decisions. Critics have drawn crosstown comparisons to the response of officials at University of California, Los Angeles, following protests there this week where no arrests were made.
