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usc zum.jpg Hall.]]student union usc.jpg The University of Southern California (commonly referred to as USC, 'SC, Southern California and Southern CalDespite its prevalent use in sports-related articles, the official position of USC discourages use of "Southern Cal" in any context, as clearly stated in all media guides: "Note to the media: In editorial references to athletic teams of the University of Southern California, the following are preferred: USC, Southern California, So. California, Troy and Trojans for men’s or women’s teams, and Women of Troy for women’s teams. PLEASE do not use Southern Cal (it’s like calling San Francisco “Frisco” or North Carolina “North Car.”). The usage of "Southern Cal" on licensed apparel and merchandise is limited in scope and necessary to protect federal trademark rights." It’s Not ‘Southern Cal’, 2005 USC Football Media Guide, USC Athletic Department, pg. 3.), located in the urban center of Los Angeles, California, was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university.

USC is one of the most selective universities in the nation *, matriculating only 2,700 students of the more than 34,000 who applied in 2006. USC was also named "College of the Year 2000" by the editors of TIME magazine and the Princeton Review for the university's extensive community-service programs. Residing in the heart of a global city, USC has established one of the most diverse institutions in the world, with students from all 50 states as well as over 115 countries.

USC is also home to Chemistry Professor George Olah, director of the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute and winner of the Nobel Prize. The university also has two National Science Foundation-funded Engineering Research Centers -- the Integrated Media Systems Center and the Center for Biomimetic Microelectronic Systems. In addition, The U.S. Department of Homeland Security selected USC as its first Homeland Security Center of Excellence.

USC's most recent fund-raising drive raised nearly *]2.9 billion, second greatest in the history of higher education. USC and its partner institutions have recently completed or soon will be constructing 27 new buildings, which will provide nearly 8.1 million square feet (750,000 m²) of new space for research, teaching, patient care, and student life enrichment.

USC athletics have won the second most national championships among American universities with 106 overall. The Trojans have also won 86 NCAA championships, again ranking the Men and Women of Troy third among all American universities. USC Football won back to back National Championships in 2004-2005.

Overview

USC was founded in 1880 as a Methodist University, on land donated by three wealthy Los Angeles residents. Los Angeles was a frontier town in the early 1870s, when a group of public-spirited citizens led by Judge Robert Maclay Widney first dreamed of establishing a university in the region. It took nearly a decade for this vision to become a reality, but in 1879 Widney formed a board of trustees and secured a donation of 308 lots of land from three prominent members of the community — Ozro W. Childs, a Protestant horticulturist; former California governor John G. Downey, an Irish-Catholic pharmacist and businessman; and Isaias W. Hellman, a German-Jewish banker and philanthropist. The gift provided land for a campus as well as a source of endowment, the seeds of financial support for the nascent institution.

When USC first opened its doors with an enrollment of 53 students and a faculty of 10 in 1880, the “city” still lacked paved streets, electric lights, telephones, and a reliable fire alarm system. Its first graduating class in 1884 was a class of three - two males and a female valedictorian. Though USC started out as a religious institution, the university is no longer affiliated with the Methodist Church having severed formal ties many decades ago.

USC has grown substantially in the 125 years since its founding. Besides its main campus ("University Park Campus"), which lies about 2 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles, the university also operates the Health Sciences Campus about 2 miles northeast of downtown; an Orange County center in Irvine for business, pharmacy, social work and education; and the Information Sciences Institute, with centers in Arlington, Virginia and Marina del Rey. The School of Policy, Planning, and Development also runs a satellite campus in Sacramento. In 2005, USC established a federal relations office in Washington, D.C.. There is also a Health Sciences Alhambra campus which holds The Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research (IPR) and the Masters in Public Health Program. USC went international in 2004, when it collaborated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University to offer the USC (Executive) EMBA program in Shanghai. Beginning in 2006, the Marshall School of Business will have a San Diego satellite campus.

USC's nickname is the Trojans, epitomized by the statue of Tommy Trojan near the center of campus. Until 1912, USC students (especially athletes) were known as Methodists or Wesleyans, though neither name was approved by the university. During a fateful track and field meet with Stanford University, the USC team was beaten early and seemingly conclusively. After only the first few events, it was statistically impossible for USC to win; however, the team fought back, winning many of the later events, to lose only by a slight margin. After this contest, Los Angeles Times sportswriter Owen Bird reported that the USC athletes "fought on like Trojans," and the president of the university at the time, George F. Bovard, approved the name officially.

University Park Campus

The University Park campus is in the West Adams district of South Los Angeles, 2 miles southwest of Downtown Los Angeles. The campus' boundaries are Jefferson Boulevard on the north and northeast, Figueroa Street on the southeast, Exposition Boulevard on the south, and Vermont Avenue on the west. Since the 1960s, through campus vehicle traffic has been banned. The University Park campus is within walking distance to Los Angeles landmarks such as the Shrine Auditorium, Staples Center, and Los Angeles Coliseum. Most buildings are in the Romanesque style, although some dormitories, engineering buildings, and physical sciences labs are of various Modernist styles (especially two large Brutalist dormitories at the campus' northern edge) that sharply contrast with the predominantly red-brick campus. Beautifully landscaped courtyards and parks provide a welcome contrast from the urban environment outside the campus.

USC's role in making visible and sustained improvements in the neighborhoods surrounding both the University Park and Health Sciences campuses earned it the distinction of College of the Year 2000 by the TIME/Princeton Review College Guide. Roughly half of the university's students volunteer in community-service programs in neighborhoods around campus and throughout Los Angeles. These outreach programs, as well as previous administrations' commitment to remaining in South Los Angeles amid widespread calls to move the campus following the 1965 Watts Riots, are credited for the safety of the university during the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. (That the university emerged from the riots completely unscathed is all the more remarkable in light of the complete destruction of several strip malls in the area, including one just across Vermont Avenue from the campus' western entrance). The ZIP code for USC is 90089 and the surrounding University Park community is 90007.

As well, USC has an endowment of $2.7 billion and also is allocated $430 million per year in sponsored research. USC became the only university to receive four separate nine-figure gifts — two separate gifts of $100 million from Ambassador Walter Annenberg to create the Annenberg Center for Communication, $112.5 million from Alfred Mann to establish the Alfred E. Mann Institute for Biomedical Engineering, and $110 million from the W. M. Keck Foundation for USC's School of Medicine.

Major new facilities opened with the infusion of new money including the:

Health Sciences Campus

Located three miles from downtown Los Angeles and seven miles from the University Park campus, USC's Health Sciences campus is a major center for basic and clinical biomedical research, especially in the fields of cancer, gene therapy, the neurosciences, and transplantation biology. The 50-acre campus is home to the region's first and oldest medical and pharmacy schools, as well as acclaimed programs in occupational therapy (ranked #1 by U.S. News & World Report) and physical therapy.

In addition to the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, which is one of the nation's largest teaching hospitals, the campus includes three state-of-the-art patient care facilities: USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, USC University Hospital, and the Doheny Eye Institute. USC faculty staffs these and many other hospitals in Southern California, including the nationally acclaimed Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Because of its outstanding ranking and achievements in research and health care, the Health Sciences campus is a focal point for students, patients, and scientists from around the world.

Administration

USC is a private corporation, and is ultimately controlled by a Board of Trustees, with roughly 50 voting members and several Life Trustees, Honorary Trustees, and Trustees Emeritus who do not vote. Voting members of the Board of Trustees are elected for five-year terms. One fifth of the Trustees stand for re-election each year, and votes are cast only by the Trustees not standing for election. Trustees tend to be high-ranking executives of large corporations (both domestic and international), successful alumni, members of the upper echelons of university administration or some combination of the three.

The university administration consists of a President, a Provost, several Vice Presidents of various departments, a treasurer, a Chief Information Officer, and an athletic director. The President is Steven B. Sample and the Provost is C.L. Max Nikias.

The College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, The Graduate School, and the 18 Professional Schools are each lead by an Academic Dean. USC occasionally awards emeritus titles to former administrators. There are currently six Administrators Emeriti.

List of past University Presidents

University Presidents

Academics

The University of Southern California is well known for its professional schools in communication, law, dentistry, medicine, business, engineering, journalism, public policy, and architecture, as well as for its School of Cinema-Television. Additionally, USC's School of International Relations is the third oldest, and one of the most highly regarded, such schools in the world. It also offers the Master of Professional Writing Program.

The incoming freshman class for the 2005 fall term had an average unadjusted GPA of 3.8 out of 4.0 and an average SAT score of 1368 out of 1600. USC has been a member of the Association of American Universities since 1969 and is the oldest private research university in the American West. *

The School of Cinema-Television, the first in the country and perhaps USC's most famous wing, confers degrees in critical studies, screenwriting, film production, and film producing. In 2001, the film school added an Interactive Media Division studying video games, virtual reality, and mobile media. The school is supported by its famous alumni, whose ranks include such well-known graduates as George Lucas, Ron Howard, Robert Zemeckis, John Milius, and Ben Burtt. Famous American actor Will Ferrell also attend USC, but received a degree from the Annenberg School for Communication.

A Department of Architecture was established at USC within the Roski School of Fine Arts in 1916, the first in Southern California. This small department grew rapidly with the help of the Allied Architects of Los Angeles. A separate School of Architecture was organized in September 1925. The School of Architecture is world famous for its strong focus on the design aspect of the architectural field. The school has been home to teachers such as Richard Neutra, Ralph Knowles, A. Quincy Jones, William Pereira and Pierre Koenig. The school of architecture is also home to notable alumni Frank Gehry, Thom Mayne, Raphael Soriano, Gregory Ain, and Pierre Koenig. The school has two Pritzker Prize winners, the highest award in architecture (often referred to as "the Nobel of architecture"), and is tied with Yale for the most American winners.

On March 02, 2004, the USC School of Engineering, headed by Dean Max Nikias, was renamed to the Andrew and Erna Viterbi School of Engineering. This was done to honor Qualcomm founder Andrew Viterbi and his wife Erna, who had recently donated $52 million to the school. The gift was the largest ever to rename an existing school of engineering.

The Annenberg School for Communication is among the best in the nation, being one of the two communication programs in the country endowed by Walter Annenberg (the other is at the University of Pennsylvania). The school of journalism features a core curriculum that requires students to devote themselves equally to print, broadcast and online media for the first year of study. This approach promises a breadth of knowledge across various journalistic media. USC's Annenberg School for Communication enjoys a massive endowment.

Rankings

Currently, USC ranks among the top 10 private universities receiving federal funds for research and development support and 17th among all research universities in the United States. The Center at the University of Florida ranks USC at 12th as a Top American Research Universities.

Undergraduate rankings

USC was ranked 30th overall in the country by U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Undergraduate Colleges in 2006. Internationally, USC is ranked as the 37th best university in the nation, and 50th best university in the world, by The Institute of Higher Education at Shanghai Jiao Tong University;[http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2005/ARWU2005_Top100.htm Top 500 World Universities, retrieved July 7, 2006 and 36th best university in the country, and 124th best in the world, by The Times Higher Education Supplement’s list of the top 200 universities in the world;Education news & resources at the Times Higher Education Supplement, retrieved July 7, 2006

The following are the rankings for some of the specific schools at USC:

  • The School of Cinema-Television - 1st
  • The School of International Relations - 3rd*
  • The Annenberg School for Communication - 4th
  • The Leventhal School of Accounting - 4th *
  • The School of Theatre - 4th
  • The School of Policy, Planning, and Development - Top 5
  • The School of Architecture - 6th
  • The Marshall School of Business - 9th
  • The Viterbi School of Engineering - Top 10 *

Graduate rankings

The 2006 U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Graduate Schools ranked USC graduate programs as the following:
  • The School of Cinema-Television - 1st
  • Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy - 1st
  • Marshall School of Business Professionals and Managers MBA Program - 5th
  • Marshall School of Business Entrepreneur Program - 6th
  • The School of Architecture - 6th
  • Viterbi School of Engineering - 7th
  • School of Policy, Planning, and Development - 7th
  • Leventhal School of Accounting - 7th
  • School of International Relations Program - 10th
  • The USC School of Law - 18th

Other news services rank graduate schools, such as the Wall Street Journal, which rankings are as follows:

Demographics

The following figures are accurate as of the 2004-2005 academic year.

USC has a total enrollment of 32,160 students, of which 15,686 are at the postgraduate level. 350 postdoctoral fellows are supported along with 900 medical residents. There are currently 4,390 faculty and about 14,000 support staff. There are roughly 200,000 living Trojan Alumni. The university has attracted more international students over the years than any other American university. Currently, about 10 percent of USC's students represent over 115 countries and the university maintains international offices in several countriesSpecifically Hong Kong, China; Jakarta, Indonesia; Taipei, Taiwan; Mexico City; and Tokyo, Japan. USC International Offices. The graduate student body includes over 5,500 international students from 115 different countries.

The male:female ratio at USC is nearly 1:1, and 49% of new students come from out of state. The ethnic breakdown of undergraduates is:

Admissions

* 31,634 students applied admitting 8,408 and a final matriculation population of 2,741 with an average GPA of 3.8 on the 4.0 scale. 19 percent of the students are SCions, or students with familial ties with USC, while 9 percent are the first generation in their family to attend any form of college. There were also 194 National Merit Scholar winners in the most recent admitted class.

Trojan Alumni

There are currently 200,000 living Trojan Alumni, with nearly 75% of all alumni living in California. To stay connected as an alumni, the Trojan network consists of over 100 Alumni groups on 5 continents. It is often said that once you join the "Trojan Family" you are a member for life, forever connecting yourself with the vast network of fellow Trojan Alumni.

Academic subdivisions

USC's academic departments fall either under the general liberal arts and sciences of the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences for undergraduates, or The Graduate School for graduates, or the university's 17 professional schools. A full listing of academic subdivisions follows alphabetically by subject: usc asian library.jpg

University library system

USC's is among the oldest private academic research libraries in California. For more than a century USC has been building collections in support of the university's teaching and research interests. Especially noteworthy collections include American literature, Cinema-Television including the Warner Bros. studio archives, European philosophy, gerontology, German exile literature, international relations, Korean studies, studies of Latin America, natural history, Southern California history, and the University Archives.

The USC Warner Bros. Archives is the largest single studio collection in the world. Donated in 1977 to the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema-Television, by Warner Communications, the WBA houses departmental records that detail Warner Bros. activities from the studio’s first major feature, My Four Years in Germany (1918), to its sale to Seven Arts in 1968.

Announced in June 2006, the testimonies of 52,000 survivors, rescuers and others involved in the Holocaust will now be housed in the USC School of Letters, Arts & Sciences as a part of the newly formed USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education. *

USC’s 22 libraries and other archives currently hold nearly 4 million printed volumes, 6 million items in microform, and 3 million photographs and subscribe to more than 30,000 current serial titles. The University of Southern California Library system is among the top 35 largest university library systems in the United States.[http://www.infoplease.com/ipea/A0106201.html

List of libraries

Major research centers

The University of Southern California is one of a small number of premier research institutions on which the nation depends for a steady stream of new knowledge, art and technology. USC receives over $430 million per year in sponsored research funding. USC ranks 17th among American Universities for federal-funded research programs.

USC is rapidly expanding its research activity through a strategy that emphasizes collaboration across multiple disciplines and meeting societal needs, such as:

  • Preventing, detecting and curing diseases prior to causing human harm.
  • Capturing and distributing energy supplies that are environmentally benign, economical and long-lasting.
  • Securing the nation and the world against the risk of both natural disasters and intentional acts of terrorism
  • Enhancing cross-cultural understanding and cooperation through communication among civic, religious, ethnic, and community institutions.
  • Creating the means to educate both our children and adults for a deeper understanding of science and math, languages and cultures, leadership, and justice.

Complete Lists of Research Centers

Athletics

USC athletics participates in the NCAA Division I-A Pacific Ten Conference and has won 106 total team national championships, 86 of which are NCAA National Championships. USC's cross-town rival is UCLA, with whom there is fierce athletic and scholastic competition. However, USC's rivalry with Notre Dame predates the UCLA rivalry by three years. The Notre Dame rivalry stems mainly from the annual football game played between these two universities and is considered the greatest intersectional rivalry of all college athletics.

Trojan athletic achievement

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  • The Trojan men have won more National Championships, 86 total (including a national-best 73 NCAA men's titles) than any other University.
  • The Women of Troy have earned 20 National Championships.
  • The Trojans won at least 1 national team title in 26 consecutive years (1959-60 to 1984-85).
  • USC won the National College All-Sports Championship an annual ranking by USA Today of the country’s top athletic programs — 6 times since its inception in 1971.
  • Trojan men athletes have won more individual NCAA titles (290) than those from any other school in the nation (the Women of Troy have brought home another 41 individual NCAA crowns).
  • Four Trojans have won the prestigious Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in America: diver Sammy Lee (1953), shot putter Parry O’Brien (1959), swimmer John Naber (1977) and swimmer Janet Evans (1989).
  • Two Women of Troy athletes have won the Honda-Broderick Cup as the top collegiate woman athlete of the year: Cheryl Miller (1983-84) and Angela Williams (2001-02). And Trojan women have won 8 Honda Awards, as the top female athlete in their sport.
  • USC won the Lexus Gauntlet Trophy, a year-long all-sports competition between Troy and crosstown rival UCLA, in its inaugural 2001-02 season and again in 2003-04 and 2005-06 .

Trojans in the Olympics

  • USC has a reputation and long tradition of nurturing Olympic athletes. From the 1904 Summer Olympics through the 2004 games, 375 Trojan athletes have competed in the Games, taking home 112 gold medals (with at least 1 gold in every summer Olympics since 1912), 64 silver and 58 bronze.
  • There have been more Trojans in the Olympics than from any other university in the world - in fact, if USC were its own nation in the Olympics, it would rank tied for 11th in the world in total gold medals earned.*.
  • USC sent 35 athletes to the 2004 Athens Olympics and won 17 medals: eight gold, five silver and four bronze.

Men's National Championships

86 Total Men's Titles

Women's National Championships

20 Total Women's Titles

Notable team history

Many teams from Troy have won national championships and the following is a brief history of the more notable teams at USC:

Football - USC Trojans Football started in 1888 and has amassed an all-time won-loss record of 732-298-54, giving the program a .700 winning percentage. A December 1998 SPORT magazine ranking listed USC as the No. 4 all-time college football program of the 20th century.Complete List of Every USC Football Game

The USC Football team has been voted National Champions 11ibid times. USC is also known for its Heisman Trophy winners. With the awarding of the 2005 Heisman to Reggie Bush, USC and Notre Dame are tied for the most Heisman winners at 7. Three of the last four Heisman winners have been Trojans - Reggie Bush (recently drafted by the New Orleans Saints) in 2005, Matt Leinart (drafted shortly after Bush by the Arizona Cardinals) in 2004, and Carson Palmer (now with the Cincinnati Bengals) in 2002. Four other Trojan tailbacks have won the coveted Heisman Trophy as college football’s outstanding player: Mike Garrett in 1965, O.J. Simpson in 1968, Charles White in 1979 and Marcus Allen in 1981. Also notable, The Pro Football Hall of Fame counts USC and Notre Dame tied as the universities with the most Hall of Famers at 10. USC’s record against Pac-10 opponents is 367-153-29 (.695), and the Trojans have winning records against all the other nine members.

Since 1959, the Trojans have won the conference championship 17 times and tied for the title on 6 other occasions. USC has the nation’s fourth best bowl-winning percentage (.643) among the 65 schools that have made at least 10 bowl appearances, and its 30 Rose Bowl appearances is an all-time best. USC players have been named first team All-American 129 times, with 44 consensus selections and 22 unanimous choices. *

Baseball - USC Trojans Baseball has a notable history: With 12 baseball national championships, Troy is far and away the leader in that category (no other school has more than 6). Since starting baseball in 1924, the Trojans have compiled a record of 2,221-1,093-15 (.669) against college opponents, and have captured outright or tied for 38 conference championships. USC's most notable baseball coach was Rod Dedeaux, coaching from 1942-86, who led the school to 11 of its NCAA crowns, including 5 straight from 1970-74.

USC boasts many successful major leaguers such as Ron Fairly, Don Buford, Tom Seaver, Dave Kingman, Fred Lynn, Roy Smalley, Steve Kemp, Mark McGwire, Randy Johnson, Bret Boone, Jeff Cirillo, Barry Zito, Geoff Jenkins, Aaron Boone, Jacque Jones and Mark Prior. In all, 89 Trojans have gone on to play in the major leagues and scores more in the minors. *

Men's Basketball - The men's USC Trojans Basketball program has a long tradition. Men's program is only one of about 4 dozen schools have more than 1,000 victories in college basketball, and USC is one of them. Since starting basketball in 1907, the Trojans have compiled a record of 1,357-984 (.580), winning 14 league championships. *

Women's Basketball - The women's USC Trojans Basketball program, after improving steadily, first reached the pinnacle of success in women’s basketball in 1983 and the Trojans have been near the top almost ever since, winning 2 national championships and playing in 4 Final Fours.

The Women of Troy have made the NCAA tourney 6 of the past 14 years, including advancing to the regionals 3 times. Lisa Leslie, who became an Olympic and pro star, won the Naismith Award in 1994 (she was the MVP of the first WNBA All-Star Game). Tina Thompson was the No. 1 pick in the 1997 WNBA draft. Cynthia Cooper was twice an Olympian and WNBA MVP. *

Victory Bell

The 295-pound bell, which originally rang atop a Southern Pacific locomotive, was given to the UCLA student body in 1939 as a gift from the school's alumni association. For 2 seasons, cheerleaders rang the bell after each Bruin point. However, during the opening game of UCLA's 1941 season, six members of USC's SigEp fraternity (who were also members of the Trojan Knights) infiltrated the Bruin rooting section, assisted in loading the bell aboard a truck headed back to Westwood, took the key to the truck, and escaped with the bell. The bell remained hidden from UCLA students for more than a year, first in SigEp’s basement, then in the Hollywood Hills, Santa Ana and other locations. At one point, it was even concealed beneath a haystack. Bruin students tried to locate the bell, but to no avail.

The controversy died down until 1942, when a photograph of the bell was printed in "The Wampus," a USC magazine. This resulted in an uproar, with UCLA students painting the Tommy Trojan statue at USC and Trojan students retaliating by burning USC initials on UCLA lawns. Police had to be called several times. The conflict got so out of hand that Dr. Rufus B. von Kleinsmid, then USC's president, threatened to cancel the USC-UCLA game if any further disorders occurred.

On Nov. 12, 1942, the bell was wheeled in front of Tommy Trojan and the student body presidents of both schools - USC's Bill McKay and UCLA's Bill Farrer - signed an agreement stating that thereafter the annual winner of the Trojan-Bruin gridiron clash would keep the bell for the following year. In the case of a tie, the bell would be retained by the school that won the previous year's game. The USC Alumni Association later repaid the UCLA Alumni Association for half the cost of the bell.

At the time, the arrangement might have seemed like a bad deal for the Bruins, since they had yet to defeat USC. But that first year, 1942, UCLA beat USC, 14-7.

Before home games, the bell is along Trousdale Parkway for fans to ring as they participate in the "Trojan Walk" to the L.A. Coliseum. During home games, and whenever USC faces UCLA at the Rose Bowl, the Victory Bell is displayed at the edge of the field for the first three quarters of the game. Members of the Trojan Knights and USC Helenes ring the bell every time the Trojans score.

The Victory Bell has been won by USC for the past seven football seasons and USC has a overall record of 41-27-7 in the Cross-town Series. Complete USC Football records against all opponents, College Football Data Warehouse.

The Shillelagh

A jeweled shillelagh is passed between the annual winner of the USC - Notre Dame game, perhaps the finest intersectional rivalry in college football.

A shillelagh (pronounced "shuh-LAY-lee") is a Gaelic war club made of oak or blackthorn saplings from Ireland. Those are the only woods used because, it is said, they are the only ones tougher than an Irish skull.

The foot-long shillelagh has ruby-adorned Trojan heads with the year and game score representing USC victories, while emerald-studded shamrocks stand for Notre Dame wins. For tie games, a combined Trojan head/shamrock medallion is used. On the end of the club is engraved, "From the Emerald Isle." The victor of the Trojan-Irish game gains year-long possession of the trophy.

Upon its initial presentation in 1952 by the Notre Dame Alumni Club of Los Angeles, it was said that "this shillelagh will serve to symbolize in part the high tradition, the keen rivalry and above all the sincere respect which these two great universities have for each other."

The original shillelagh was flown from Ireland by Howard Hughes' pilot, according to legend. It was devised by the Notre Dame Alumni Club of Los Angeles, based on a suggestion by Vern Rickard. John Groen designed it. Although the shillelagh was introduced in 1952, the medallions go back to the start of the series in 1926.

When the original shillelagh ran out of space for the Trojan heads and shamrocks after the 1989 game, it was retired and is permanently displayed at Notre Dame.

A new shillelagh - slightly longer than the original - was commissioned by Jim Gillis, a former baseball player at both USC and Notre Dame and a one-time president of the Notre Dame Club of Los Angeles, and handcrafted in 1997 in County Leitrim, Ireland. It contains medallions beginning with the 1990 game.

There are now 42 shamrocks, 30 Trojan heads and 5 combined medallions on the shillelaghs. *

Athletic facilities

USC is home to many athletic facilities, including the world-famous Memorial Coliseum and the state-of-the-art Galen Center, but USC is home to many other athletic sites as well. USC's other on-campus athletic facilities include the McDonald's Swim Stadium (site of the 1984 Olympic swimming and diving competition), Marks Tennis Stadium, Cromwell Track and Field (which includes the 3,000-seat Katherine B. Locker Stadium), the McAlister Soccer Field, the Johnson Family Golf Practice Facility, the 1,500-seat Lyon Center (a campus recreation center that hosts some Trojan intercollegiate events) and the Physical Education Building (housing the 1,000-seat North Gym). Off campus, the University's crew team operates out of the USC Boathouse in the Los Angeles Harbor.

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is one of the largest stadiums in America. However, the stadium's size makes it difficult for most fans to view the playing field. USC has played football in the Coliseum ever since the grand stadium was built in 1923. In fact, the Trojans played in the first varsity football game ever held there (beating Pomona College, 23-7, on Oct. 6, 1923). The Coliseum was the site of the 1932 Olympic Games and hosted the opening and closing ceremonies and track events of the 1984 Olympic Games. Over the years, the Coliseum has been home to many sports teams besides the Trojans, including UCLA football, Los Angeles Rams, Raiders, and Los Angeles Dodgers baseball. The Coliseum has hosted various other events, from concerts and speeches to track meets and motorcycle races. It has a present full-capacity of 92,000 seats (almost all are chair-back seats). The Coliseum is located on 17 acres in Exposition Park, which also houses museums, gardens and the Los Angeles Sports Arena. *

Galen Center

Scheduled to open in September 2006, the Galen Center will be the basketball and volleyball facility for the University of Southern California Trojans. Located at the southeast corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Figueroa Street in the Exposition Park area of Los Angeles, it will be right across the street from the campus and near the Shrine Auditorium. The facility will be 255,000 square feet, with a 45,000-square-foot pavilion, which will have three practice courts and offices. The seating capacity will be 10,258. There will also be 22 private suites. Galen Center construction will cost an estimated $147 million, which includes the arena, team offices, and a state-of-the-art practice facility. Additionally, this facility could play host should Los Angeles receive the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Dedeaux Field

Opened on March 20, 1974 as one of the nation's finest collegiate baseball structures, Dedeaux Field has continually been improved over recent years with the grandest project taking place before the 2002 season. A $4 million project signified the largest improvement made to the facility as a new clubhouse and players' lounge were added on the first base side. Expanded offices for the coaching staff and new Hall of Fame were also part of the project, along with a new pavilion. Prior Plaza, named after Jerry and Millie Prior (parents of former Trojan Mark Prior), is located on the first base side and features USC's All-Americans and players who have played in the majors.

A new bleacher section was added on the first base side, pushing capacity to 2,500 at Dedeaux Field. With dimensions of 335 feet down the right and left field lines, 365 in the right field power alleys and 375 to the left field power alleys, and 395 to straightaway center, Dedeaux Field is a natural grass field. The outfield fences stand 10 feet high.

Traditions

gtireb.jpgAs one of the oldest universities in California, the University of Southern California has a long and storied history resulting in a number of modern traditions, some of which are outlined here:
  • The colors of USC are cardinal and gold, which were approved by USC's third president, Rev. George W. White, in 1895.
  • USC's official fight song is Fight On, which was composed in 1922 by USC dental student Milo Sweet (with lyrics by Sweet and Glen Grant).
  • The Trojan Shrine, better known as 'Tommy Trojan,' is a bronze statue located at the center of campus, and an integral figure in school pride, embodying the values of a Trojan: Faithful, Scholarly, Skillful, Courageous, and Ambitious.
  • Traveler, a majestic white horse, has been the USC mascot since 1961. Mounted by a rider dressed as a Trojan warrior, Traveler gallops around the field at every home football game whenever USC scores.
  • Prior to Traveler, making his first football game appearance in 1940, USC's mascot was a campus mutt called George Tirebiter that went around campus chasing cars.
  • Spectators walking from campus to the Coliseum back-kick the base of one of the flag poles at the edge of campus on Exposition Boulevard to ensure good luck for the football team at their next game.
  • The week preceding the annual football matchup with UCLA is known as "Troy Week" and features a number of traditions including Save Tommy Night, the Troy Week Bonfire, and all-night vigils by the Trojan Knights to protect the campus from UCLA Bruins.
  • TroyCamp is USC's primary charity that serves children from the community in numerous ways.
  • Songfest is an annual event on campus to showcase student talent. Most fraternities and sororities "team up" to perform in the show that benefits Troy Camp. For the past two years, the Songfest trophy went home with Alpha Chi Omega and Alpha Gamma Omega (2005 and 2006).

Mascots

Song Girls and Yell Leaders

The Trojan Song Girls are one of the most recognizable cheer squads in the world. Founded in 1969, The Song Girls appear at all football games as well as basketball and volleyball games. In addition, the squad appears at rallies, university and alumni functions, and conducts its own Junior Song Girl camp. The Song Girls, together with the USC Trojan Marching Band, are the most visible public face of the University, and function as the ambassadors of spirit and good will for the Trojan Family.

The Trojan Yell Leaders have been getting crowds pumped with Trojan pride for eight decades. Working closely with the The Spirit of Troy and the USC Song Leaders, their ultimate goal is to keep Trojan tradition and spirit alive and well at football, basketball, and volleyball games. The Song Girls are now sometimes refered to as Song Leaders, though this has not taken over as their most well known name. It was used to make the Song Girls and Yell Leaders less gender-specific, but the Song Girl name has become too well known in common culture to change it *

Announced in the Summer of 2006, after 85 years leading the crowds at USC Football Games, the USC Yell Leaders program has been disbanded. Coming the Fall of 2006, "Team Trojan" described as a cheer-leading group of USC students, will be stationed around the Coliseum during football games to lead fans in cheers.

Marching band

USC is also known for its marching band, known as The Spirit of Troy, which also calls itself The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe. The band has been featured in at least 10 major movies and performed in the 1932 and 1984 summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. They have also performed on television shows and with other musicians.

The band was notable in the late 1970s for its appearance on the title track of the 1979 Fleetwood Mac album Tusk, for which the band was awarded two platinum records. No other marching band has earned a platinum record.

Recently, the band produced an instrumental version of the popular song "The Kids Aren't Alright" and "Hit That," both by The Offspring (whose lead singer is a USC alumnus), and appeared with OutKast at the 2004 Grammy Awards in their hit song "Hey Ya!".

Following the University's footsteps, the Spirit of Troy has also gone international. One of only two American groups invited to perform, the USC band marched the Hong Kong Chinese New Year parade in both 2003 and 2004. The Trojan Marching Band performed at the 2005 World Expo in Nagoya, Japan. In May of 2006, the Trojan Marching Band traveled to Italy, performing once in Florence, and twice in Rome (including in front of the Coliseum).

Alma mater

"All Hail" was written by Al Wessen for the finale of a student show, "Campus Frolics of 1923."

"All Hail to Alma Mater
To thy glory we sing;
All Hail to Southern California
Loud let thy praises ring;
Where Western sky meets Western sea
Our college stands in majesty;
Sing our love to Alma Mater,
Hail, all hail to thee!"

Greek Life

About 20 percent of students are in the Greek system, so the Greek Row figures prominently on the campus. Greek Row is situated on West 28th Street, located between Figueroa Street and Hoover Street just north of campus.

With 20 fraternities and 10 sororities, boasting membership over 2,700, the Greek Community has established itself as one of the most diverse and well respected systems in the country. The Greek Community has been, and still is, one of USC's proudest traditions *. The USC Greek system is one of the largest and strongest on the West Coast due to its high percentage of participation. Some annual events that Greek members participate in are Homecoming and Songfest.

USC's IFC website
USC's Panhellenic website

Student government

USC annually elects members to Undergraduate Student Government (formerly known as Student Senate), which is incorporated with the USC Student Affairs department. The Undergraduate Student Government President and Vice-President are currently Sam Gordon and Sahil Chaudry, elected in the spring of 2006.

Modeled after the United States government, the Undergraduate Student Government consists of executive, legislative, and judicial branches, along with a programming branch (commonly referred to as "Program Board"). The executive branch consists of students appointed by the elected leadership and is charged with coordinating publications, events, and efforts to solve problems voiced by the student body. The legislative branch, the only branch fully elected by the students, represents the voice of the student body to university officials and legislates change to some limited aspects of university policy. The judicial branch ensures that all operations within Undergraduate Student Government are within the bounds of the organization's governing documentation.

Program Board aims to provide USC students with education and information through a multitude of social, political, and entertaining events. Assemblies and committees, in conjunction with elected and appointed Senate representatives, attempt to program these events in line with the desires of the paying student body. All Undergraduate Student Government activities are funded by the student activity fee, which the President and Treasurer have control over setting and which the Senate approves.

Campus renovations

The majority of USC undergraduates live on campus or in the North University Park area bounded by Vermont Avenue, Jefferson Boulevard, Figueroa Street, and Adams Boulevard. Public transportation connections to the university are plentiful and relatively cheap; nevertheless, the disdain held by many Angelinos for mass transit means that most students drive to school. On-campus parking structures rarely have spaces, and street parking is generally impossible. Moreover, the USC Parking Center, across the Harbor Freeway (I-110) from campus and connected to the campus by shuttle bus, is also frequently close to full. Construction of off-campus parking structures, including one at Jefferson Boulevard and Flower Street and another at Exposition Boulevard and Figueroa Street, is an integral component of the university's ambitious capital improvement campaign. The dormitories on campus have gone through periodic renovations to introduce improvements such as adding direct university T3 access to all rooms and card reader abilities. The entire campus itself underwent some renovations in the summer of 2001.

A new fountain was built in front of Leavey Library, as well as one in front of the Alumni House, celebrating USC's 125th anniversary. A large area, known now as McCarthy Quad, (formerly a parking lot, basketball courts, picnic area, and volleyball court) was converted into open land with walkways and scattered trees. This was the vision of President Sample who wanted to open up the campus and make it feel more 'free.' Sample also had building markers changed to more professional signs. In late 1998, USC cardinal bricks were placed in the crosswalks in the streets surrounding the university. Around this same time there were some minor improvements in University Village (the mall north of campus). The "UV" includes restaurants, a movie theater, a salon, and a bank. The Doheny Library and Commons area also underwent structural renovations over a period of several years, due in part to damage from the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The USC track was also redone, including new bleachers and other aesthetic improvements. The USC entrance adjacent to the registration and admissions building was drastically redesigned. Most of the changes have made the spotty city-like architecture (a relic of the 70's and 80's) on campus evolve into more academic like architecture to allow for better contrast with the older buildings. Overall, the campus is changing and expanding. Soon, USC students will have many new buildings including the much anticipated Galen Center.

USC and Hollywood

Because of USC's proximity to Hollywood and being home to the top ranked USC School of Cinema-Television, the university has been used in thousands of movies, TV shows, commercials, and music videos. With the historic looking brick and ivy college setting, USC serves as a popular spot for filmmakers, standing in for numerous other universities, "playing" institutions such as Harvard and Oxford in movies and on television.

Movies filmed at USC include Forrest Gump which filmed using Marks Hall and the Bovard Administration Building. Other movies include Legally Blonde, Road Trip, The Girl Next Door, Ghostbusters, and The Graduate.

Some TV shows that have used USC are The O.C., Beverly Hills 90210, Saved by the Bell, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Alias.

Full List of Filming at USC

Trivia

univave1960.jpg
  • During the week prior to the traditional USC-UCLA rivalry football game, the Tommy Trojan statue is covered in duct tape to prevent the spray-painting of UCLA colors on the statue, as was commonplace several decades ago.
  • The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has nominated at least one USC alumnus every year since the inception of the Academy Awards in 1929.
  • When USC first opened, tuition was $15.00 per term, and students were not allowed to leave town without the knowledge and consent of the university president.
  • USC's first class valedictorian was a woman, Minnie C. Miltimore, class of 1884.
  • Before they were named Trojans in 1912, USC athletic teams were called the Methodists, as well as the Wesleyans.
  • USC's Schools of Medicine and Pharmacy are the first and oldest in Southern California.
  • The southwest corner of the Pueblo of Los Angeles, the original land grant given by the King of Spain in 1781, is at Figueroa Street and Exposition Boulevard, across the street from USC.
  • A gargoyle monkey at the top of Student Union thumbs his nose at the bust of past university president, Rufus von KleinSmid because of a quarrel had with the architect over the building.
  • USC is often identified as "Southern Cal" by the media, much to the chagrin of the school's sports information department, which specifically requests in every media guide that the school not be referred to as "Southern Cal" in order to avoid association with the University of California, Berkeley (known as "Cal").
  • The USC marching band is the only one in the U.S. that has earned a platinum record. In fact, the band's earned two for Tusk.
  • USC is the largest private employer in the City of Los Angeles.
  • Since 1912, USC is the only university in the world to have a gold medal-winning athlete in every summer Olympiad.
  • USC physicians serve more than one million patients each year. *

Notable alumni, faculty, and students

External links

bovardpostcard.jpgscfootballpostcard.jpg1942grad.jpg

History

Student Resources

Student Media

Recognized Student organizations

USC has over 600 recognized student organizations:

USC community organizations

Maps and Aerial Photos

Footnotes

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Association of American Universities | Los Angeles area colleges and universities | Pacific Ten Conference | Sea-grant universities | Universities and colleges in California | University of Southern California

University of Southern California | Universitato de Suda Kalifornio | Université de la Californie du Sud | University of Southern California | 南カリフォルニア大学 | University of Southern California | มหาวิทยาลัยเซาเทิร์นแคลิฟอร์เนีย | University of Southern California | 南加州大学

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "University of Southern California".

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