I would like to begin this month’s letter with good news on USC’s fundraising campaign. When officially launched in 2011, our original campaign goal of $6 billion was the largest in the history of American higher education, and we achieved that goal a full 18 months ahead of schedule. Given its success, we extended the campaign for an additional five years to 2021.
Today we are $648 million ahead of where we hoped to be at this point in 2018. In the most recent rankings, announced earlier this month, USC was again among the nation’s top-five most successful universities for cash fundraising. For the last six consecutive years, only USC, Harvard, and Stanford have consistently ranked in the top five for cash fundraising.
These are all points of tremendous pride for our Trojan Family, and we want to thank the more than 364,000 donors who have given—and continue to give—to our campaign. Their support of our faculty, our students, and our mission inspires us every day.
A renewed Coliseum
Many donors to our campaign have directed their support to the much-needed, multi-million-dollar upgrade of the Coliseum. As part of our stewardship agreement for the Coliseum, USC committed to finding a naming sponsor whose support would help us preserve this legendary landmark, and we indeed found one that shared our commitment to the structure’s proud history, as well as to our local community: United Airlines.
The $270 million renovation will restore the stadium’s rich architectural style, generate thousands of jobs, and give fans modern amenities—including dramatically improved seating, expanded concession stands, and cutting-edge audio-visual systems. In 2019, the landmark will be renamed the United Airlines Memorial Coliseum, preserving its memorial tribute to war veterans. And, as part of the renovation, the iconic peristyle will also be restored more closely to its original design, thanks to a generous gift from two Trojan parents and grandparents, Julia and George Argyros.
USC Thornton shines
Our Thornton School of Music recently received glowing praise from Music School Central, a firm that advises students on music college admissions. “I am consistently amazed at the quality of output USC delivers,” the firm’s founder, Bill Zuckerman wrote. “We find many of the top young musicians throughout the country studying at USC, flocking there to study with internationally renowned artist-faculty, many of whom are employed in the neighboring Los Angeles Philharmonic…” USC Thornton is a jewel among our six world-class arts schools.
USC prepares budding entrepreneurs
Wired magazine recently reported on an innovative new undergraduate course at the USC Marshall School’s Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. The course introduces the concepts of patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets, and resulted from discussions I had with Dr. Gary Michelson, the visionary philanthropist and retired spinal surgeon. Dr. Michelson passionately encourages students to learn about intellectual property before entering the workforce.
Supporting students
Before closing, I want to share an op-ed I recently published in The Hill with Retired Lt. Gen. John F. Regni. In the piece, we argue that President Trump should establish a bipartisan Presidential Commission on Immigration, after providing a path for citizenship for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program recipients. Many of our outstanding USC students are DACA program participants. Such a commission should seek to bring American immigration policy into the 21st century, shaping it to meet the realities of a now globalized economic and financial system.
A Trojan in PyeongChang
And finally, at USC we always follow the Olympics with special interest, given the extraordinary accomplishments of Trojans at the Games. For that reason, I want to make sure you did not miss Jung-Hwa Seo, an alumna of USC Dornsife College, who competed in women’s moguls freestyle skiing. To Jung-Hwa, and all the Trojan athletes preparing for the Tokyo Summer Games in 2020, we say: Fight On!
Yours truly,
C. L. Max Nikias
President