The crowd applauds during Wednesday’s interfaith service in memory of Steven B. Sample. (USC Photo/David Sprague)

The midday hubbub of the USC University Park Campus took a brief pause Wednesday as several hundred students, staff, faculty and friends paused to remember Steven B. Sample, the university’s 10th president, who died Tuesday.

Sample led USC from 1991 to 2010, a period in which the university quickly rose into the ranks of the nation’s elite, launched unprecedented community service programs and increased diversity among the faculty and staff.

USC President C. L. Max Nikias remembers Steven B. Sample during an interfaith prayer service in front of Tommy Trojan (USC Photo/David Sprague)
USC President C. L. Max Nikias remembers Steven B. Sample during an interfaith prayer service in front of Tommy Trojan (USC Photo/Eric Abelev)

“Steven B. Sample has left a lasting legacy,” USC President C. L. Max Nikias said. “He touched and changed all our lives for the better.”

“Under his historic leadership, our Trojan Family soared to new heights,” Dean of Religious Life Varun Soni said before a moment of silence during a noontime interfaith prayer service.

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