For the first time, a woman will lead the USC Trojan Marching Band. India Anderson, a tuba player and junior in the USC Thornton School of Music, will lead the group for the 2019-2020 academic year.
Trojan Air Force cadet, a first-generation student, has his eyes on the skies
Giovanni Flores has long been interested in space. The university’s ROTC program has put it within his reach. USC’s Air Force ROTC program started in 1947, the same year the youngest branch of the military was born. Since its start, roughly 2,000 second lieutenants have come out of the program.
Swim With Mike helps standout athlete move forward after tragic accident
Instant familiarity is a built-in benefit of Swim With Mike, the USC scholarship program that supports student-athletes with physical disabilities. Now in its 39th year, the scholarship initiative started as a swim-a-thon fundraiser for All-American USC swimmer Mike Nyeholt after he was paralyzed in a motorcycle accident.
USC medical leaders promote social justice as key step toward healing society’s ills
Doctors should do more than treating diseases and fixing broken bones. That mentality is at the heart of the vision for the new Office for Social Justice within the Keck School of Medicine of USC. The initiative advocates for fairness in health policy and equal access to health care and other social services. The effort also promotes community well-being.
Helping The Homeless
Recently The Weingart Center Association, a provider of comprehensive homeless services, has been working with a new collaborator: the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. Students in Steve Bucher’s advanced writing class for engineers, Writing 340, worked on group consulting projects for Weingart. As part of their research, they spoke to the nonprofit’s leaders to find out the center’s needs, visited the …
USC steps up recycling and composting efforts in move toward zero waste
A sizeable portion of trash collected at the university goes to recycling or composting facilities, thanks to USC’s intensifying effort to embrace sustainability. Recent initiatives include installing 120 new bins with separate waste and recycling sections in academic and administration buildings on the University Park Campus. An additional 60 recycling bins have been installed at USC Village and outdoors across …
New ethics and compliance leader brings a focus on values
Stacy Giwa has joined USC as vice president of ethics and compliance — with a focus on values and culture and the goal of strengthening integrity and ethical decision-making across the university. She is an experienced leader in ethics and compliance, culture, investigations and human resources. Hiring Giwa to oversee the USC Office of Ethics and Compliance is an element of USC’s …
USC boosts prevention and outreach efforts to reduce sexual and relationship violence on campus
USC leaders want to stop sexual assault and relationship violence before it even starts. That focus on prevention is at the heart of a renewed outreach and education effort led by experts from Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention and Services, a division of USC Student Health. They plan to expand training programs for students and others on topics like obtaining consent …
Nearly 100 events mark USC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Week
USC marked Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Week with nearly 100 events across all areas of the university. Events included panel discussions and workshops, presentations, film screenings, social events and more. Topics ranged from sexual harassment in the workplace and finding academic mentors to money issues for first generation students and students of color and the struggle for LGBTQI right around …
USC Viterbi VAST programs gain attention for community engagement in computer sciences
The USC Viterbi School of Engineering’s Adopt-a-School, Adopt-a-Teacher (VAST) PreK-12 STEM education outreach program has teamed up with two national partners, both global leaders in STEM outreach and education. USC VAST is now the Southern California Regional Partner of Code.org, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to computer science in schools and increasing participation by women and underrepresented minorities. Additionally, USC VAST also …
Building A Better “CAR”
Several recent cancer treatments show considerable promise. Among them is Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, which the American Society of Clinical Oncology recently named the “2018 Advance of the Year.” Three USC Viterbi researchers – Assistant Professor Stacey Finley, Professor Pin Wang and Assistant Professor Nick Graham – have just published a paper in “Biophysical Journal” that sheds light on how this new treatment works, information …
USC MESH Academy and Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health Collaborate
The USC MESH (Medicine, Engineering, Science, Humanities) Academy at the USC Keck School of Medicine announced today a collaborative agreement with Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health, L.P., a Pasadena-based venture capital firm investing in healthcare startups. The goal of this collaboration is to accelerate the pace of innovation in health and life sciences, expand the portfolio of external investment at USC, and …
Ensuring Lifespan Health
As you may know, Ensuring Lifespan Health is one of USC’s strategic priorities. Life expectancies are generally increasing worldwide, contributing to a demographic shift in which older people will soon outnumber young children. This change presents health care challenges on a global scale and refigures certain elements of our social fabric. At USC, and with our partners across the country and world, …
What is the line between cultural appropriation and appreciation?
On Thursday, panelists at a discussion hosted by the USC Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena shared their definitions of cultural appropriation, offered examples of it and its historical context — colonialism and genocide. The panelists included University Professor Viet Thanh Nguyen, MacArthur “Genius Grant” awardee and Pulitzer-winning author of The Sympathizer; Josh Kun, professor of communication and American studies and ethnicity and a MacArthur …
USC Shoah Foundation opens new office, kicks off 25th anniversary commemoration
USC Shoah Foundation — The Institute for Visual History and Education embarked on a new chapter on Tuesday when it unveiled its new global headquarters on the USC University Park Campus. The event marked the start of the institute’s 25th anniversary, a time that will propel its work into new frontiers as it continues its mission of sharing the 55,000 …
USC dentistry provides free dental treatment to hundreds of underserved South Los Angeles students
On Saturday, Oct. 20, Ostrow kicked off its two-year engagement with a special community event and VIP tours of USC’s three mobile clinics, including the Hutto Patterson Mobile Dental Clinic, a nation’s second-largest mobile dental clinic. The endeavor represents a partnership between Ostrow, the California Resources Corporation, the United Teachers Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Unified School District. Throughout the day, Ostrow …
To diversify America’s orchestras, USC collaborates on new strings fellowship
Fewer than two or three of every 100 musicians in professional orchestras are African-American or Latino. With that lack of diversity among performers, classical music may feel foreign and out of reach to many. But a new fellowship based at USC, in partnership with the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, aims to change that.
USC Arts in Action puts music to work, with social change in mind
USC Arts in Action, a new program supporting arts activities that facilitate positive social change in Los Angeles, kicked off with its inaugural event, “Artists Addressing Homelessness,” a weeklong collaboration Oct. 8-13.