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USC Annenberg Media, Los Angeles, CA (2025)

03/01/2025

On Friday, the university announced that employees and faculty involved in the Office of Inclusion and Diversity will be merged and transferred into working directly with the USC Culture Team, a part of the Office of Culture, Ethics and Compliance.

“For several years, the Office of Inclusion and Diversity and the Culture Team have supported this sense of community, each developing programming and initiatives that embrace mutual respect and opportunity for all. Moving forward, this important work will continue through the merging of the full Office of Inclusion and Diversity Team with our Culture Team,” said Andrew Guzman, provost and senior vice president of student affairs, and Stacy Giwa, senior vice president of human resources, in a letter to the university.

The Office of Inclusiona and Diversity website has been completely wiped clean, with employee pages and previous links directing students to university resources being replaced with the message, “We’ve joined forces with the Culture Team.”

On February 14, the U.S. Department of Education issued guidance prohibiting colleges from considering race in any decision-making process or promoting diversity initiatives on campus. These decisions specifically pertain to admissions, financial aid and hiring training.

The letter directly states that higher education institutions have discriminated against “students on the basis of race, including white and Asian students.”

The Education Department gave colleges until Friday to comply, warning that failure to do so will result in the loss of federal funding.

This is a developing story

📝 Jason Pham and Victoria Laursen

02/28/2025

Charlie Kirk, conservative political activist and media personality, is coming to USC on Monday for the third stop of his “American Comeback Tour,” organized by Turning Point USA.

A Turning Point USA board member said Kirk would be set up at a table by Tommy Trojan at noon with a microphone. People from the crowd will be free to come up to the table and ask Kirk questions.

Read more at the link in bio.

📝 Adam Young, Molly Phan, Antonia Brooks
📸AP Photo/Rick Scuteri

02/26/2025

President Carol Folt said in an email Wednesday morning that USC is reviewing campus programs and practices to ensure compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive orders and federal agency directives.

In the email, Folt said the university receives “$1.35 billion in federal funding, including $650 million in student financial aid and $569 million for federally funded research and discovery.”

The announcement to the campus community comes after Trump issued executive orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. Folt said the university is in direct contact with members of U.S. Congress and critical federal agencies and is working with higher education partners across the country.

📝 Grace Galante and Matthew Royer

02/26/2025

Undergraduate Student Government (USG) presidential candidate Mikaela Bautista and her running mate Emma Fallon won the presidential election Tuesday night, beating out three other tickets.

The all-female team campaigned to provide opt-in ChatGPT+ accounts for all students. They also campaigned for expanded discount programs for Zipcar, Uber and Lyft, and extended hours at Doheny Library.

USG voting now utilizes an instant runoff system, or ranked-choice voting; If no ticket receives 50% of the vote, the ticket with the fewest votes is eliminated, and votes from that ticket are redistributed to the voters’ following choices.

Despite the close results, undergraduate voter turnout was relatively low, decreasing by more than 15% from last year’s USG election. This year, only 3,620 of USC’s 21,000 students participated in the election, which was accessible through an online link.

The senatorial race, which garnered campus-wide attention for numerous campaign violations and explosive disagreements between candidates, was less contested; After three candidates dropped out and one was disqualified, every student who was still in the race by the end of voting won a spot.

The new senators include: Jeremiah Boisrond, Sudeepta Murthy, Andrew Cardenas, Justin Shih, Sabeeh Mirza, Jad Kilani, Kevin Hoang, Kian Salek, Dakota Driemeyer, Karim Debian, Zehran Muqtadir and Moy Valdez.

Read more at the link in bio.

📝 Hali Mecklin and Laya Albert
💻 Nina Moothedath
📸 Photo courtesy of the Mikaela Bautista and Emma Fallon campaign

02/26/2025

Undergraduate Student Government (USG) presidential candidate Mikaela Bautista and her running mate Emma Fallon won the presidential election Tuesday night, beating out three other tickets.

The all-female team campaigned to provide opt-in ChatGPT+ accounts for all students. They also campaigned for expanded discount programs for Zipcar, Uber and Lyft, and extended hours at Doheny Library.

USG voting now utilizes an instant runoff system, or ranked-choice voting; If no ticket receives 50% of the vote, the ticket with the fewest votes is eliminated, and votes from that ticket are redistributed to the voters’ following choices.

Despite the close results, undergraduate voter turnout was relatively low, decreasing by more than 15% from last year’s USG election. This year, only 3,620 of USC’s 21,000 students participated in the election, which was accessible through an online link.

The senatorial race, which garnered campus-wide attention for numerous campaign violations and explosive disagreements between candidates, was less contested; After three candidates dropped out and one was disqualified, every student who was still in the race by the end of voting won a spot.

The new senators include: Jeremiah Boisrond, Sudeepta Murthy, Andrew Cardenas, Justin Shih, Sabeeh Mirza, Jad Kilani, Kevin Hoang, Kian Salek, Dakota Driemeyer, Karim Debian, Zehran Muqtadir and Moy Valdez.

Read more at the link in bio.

📝 Hali Mecklin and Laya Albert
💻 Nina Moothedath
📸 Photo courtesy of the Mikaela Bautista and Emma Fallon campaign

02/26/2025

Mason Yonover, a candidate with eyebrow-raising policy proposals and social media content, was disqualified from the 2025 Undergraduate Student Government (USG) senatorial race, Morning Trojan reported on Sunday, February 22. In an interview with Annenberg Media, he said he was “very proud” to be banned for obscenity.

Some of Yonover’s proposals included turning sorority houses into homeless shelters and spending USG’s entire $2,500,000 annual budget on a sports betting parlay. The disqualification of the sophomore creative writing major confirmed the victory of the 12 remaining candidates in the race. 12 seats were open, and two other candidates withdrew before the voting period began.

USG determined that Yonover violated USG’s Code of Ethics Article 5.B, which bars officers from “excessively vulgar, crude or discriminatory” language. The published case document Driemeyer v. Yonover references the repeated use of “vulgar” words by Yonover, including “crude language” during the senatorial forum and on social media.

Read more at the link in bio.

📝 Scott Hills, Ryan Kassebaum, Paige Shea and Gian Marco Velásquez
📸 Photo courtesy of Annenberg Media Youtube

02/21/2025

Recent data from USC’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) shows a reduction in crime since the university installed gates and fencing around the campus’ perimeter last summer.

“Since the new security measures were put in place at the gates in August 2024, we have seen a 42% decrease in crimes reported to DPS on the University Park Campus,” DPS Assistant Chief David Carlisle said in an email statement to Annenberg Media.

“Theft of electric scooters has been our number one crime problem both on and off campus,” Carlisle added.

USC transitioned to a 24/7 secured perimeter after a series of pro-Palestinian encampments on campus last April, followed by the November construction of a permanent gate at McClintock — making USC fully enclosed for the first time since 1880.

Read more at the link in bio.

📝 Aubrey Jones
📸 Anusha S.

02/21/2025

Undergraduate Student Government senate elections are underway, but the ballot looks different this year with only one female candidate: Sudeepta Murthy. Initially, the ballot had two other female candidates who pulled out of the race. The USG Senate Cabinet houses 12 spots, and with 13 candidates running this year, only one will miss out on a seat.

Murthy shared her fears of the dynamics of the cabinet if she were elected as the only woman. She cited concerns about gender role dynamics in the workplace and the general tendency for women not to get a voice within a position of higher power.

Senate candidate Jeremiah Boisrond, a sophomore majoring in legal studies, is seeking reelection to be a transparent and approachable leader for students, according to his campaign platform. Boisrond said that with one female running for senate, the cabinet is “not going to be reflective of the student body,” sharing Murthy’s concerns.

USG elections close tonight at 11:59 p.m.

Read more at the link in bio.

📝 Ella Wallace and Naaji Joseph
📸 Maral Tavitian

02/19/2025

As part of the reveal of their 2025 season, the Hollywood Bowl announced that the USC Trojan Marching Band will return to the annual Tchaikovsky Spectacular with Fireworks, which will be held on July 18 and 19 this year.

The band will perform the finale of Tchaikovsky’s trademark “1812 Overture” accompanied by the customary fireworks, a task the band has handled annually since 1983.

Read more at the link in bio.

📝 Audrey Reiser and Sammy Bovitz
📸 Marissa Ding

02/19/2025

USC Village Target customers were evacuated Monday night after a robbery suspect fled into the building.

At around 6 p.m., dozens of students were asked to step outside of Target because of an “emergency situation” after a man caused a disturbance. An Annenberg Media reporter observed him driving his motorbike through the aisles of Target.

Department of Public Safety Assistant Chief David Carlisle confirmed that the man matched the description of a suspect who allegedly robbed the Smart and Final hardware store on Vermont Avenue earlier on the same night. He was loaded in the back of a police car outside of the USC Village.

LAPD is still investigating the robbery.

Read more at the link in bio.

📝 Maggie Bell and Gricelda Gallardo, Sullivan Barthel contributed to this reporting.
📸 Maggie Bell

02/14/2025

The United States Army Corps and associated Reserve Officer Training Corps “has taken immediate steps” in complying with the https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-and-wasteful-government-dei-programs-and-preferencing/ signed by President Donald Trump titled “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing,” according to a statement made to Annenberg Media by U.S. Army Cadet Command spokesperson Major Dan Lessard, who oversees the Army’s ROTC programs nationwide.

The January 20 executive order terminated diversity, equity and inclusion across the federal government, leading to the U.S. Army and Navy removing any information that highlighted women soldiers and sailors on each of its respective https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2025/02/10/army-navy-remove-web-pages-highlighting-womens-military-service/.

This removal could lead to change in policy for women and other groups who fall under DEI inclusion protocol enrolled in ROTC programs across college campuses.

Click the link in our bio for more information

📝 Victoria Laursen
📸 Victoria Laursen

02/14/2025

According to an announcement sent to USC, Sweetgreen will be over 3,000 square feet and located at the address previously occupied by Greenleaf.

The health restaurant emphasized its commitment to “making real food convenient and accessible.” Sweetgreen offers a menu of salads, warm bowls and protein-packed dishes.

“Our journey started on a college campus with the goal of serving students fresh, high-quality meals they could feel good about,” Sweetgreen CEO Jonathan Neman said in the announcement. “Seventeen years later, it’s incredible to come full circle and introduce our bowls, salads and protein plates to the USC community.”

The restaurant is scheduled to open in 2025.

📝 Liam Ervin
📸 AP/ Photo Business Wire

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