On a recent trip to Honolulu for the kick off of the USC Trojan Football season, USC President C. L. Max Nikias, Mrs. Niki C. Nikias, and a distinguished delegation of USC leadership made a special visit to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial, paying homage to the military personnel lost during the WWII bombing of Pearl Harbor. The group included chairman of the USC Board of Trustees John Mork and his wife, Julie Mork; USC Trustee Edward P. Roski, Jr., and his wife Gayle Garner Roski; USC alumnus, the Honorable Dickran Tevrizian, and his wife, Geraldine Tevrizian. The group was invited for the private visit by USC alumnus Captain Darryn James, public affairs officer and communications director for the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
Upon their arrival, the USC delegates were greeted with a full military welcome following the protocol of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and taken on a tour of the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial by Rear Admiral Russell S. Penniman, (whose wife, Carol G. Penniman, is an alumna of the USC Marshall School of Business.) The USC group was also hosted Admiral Cecil D. Haney, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and toured the area with Commander Haney on his private vessel.
USC has a long history of support for veterans and the military. The university became a training school for Army officers during World War I and expanded its role during World War II, serving as a naval preparatory flight cadet school and hosting Army, Marine Corps and Navy training programs. In addition, USC is one of only two universities, along with Notre Dame, to have maintained an unbroken, decades-long relationship with the ROTC, a program currently hosted through the USC Price School of Public Policy.
Today, the university’s commitment to the military extends through its academic programs and services for veterans. For example, the USC Institute for Creative Technologies, funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, improves training and preparedness of officers and their troops through the technologies of artificial intelligence and virtual humans. In the USC School of Social Work, a specialized program trains social workers specifically to meet the needs of veterans and their families; the school is also the home of the Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families.