University of Southern California

The University of Southern California (also known as USC, 'SC, Southern California, and Southern Cal), California's oldest private research university, is located in the urban center of Los Angeles, California.

Overview

Founded in 1880 as a Methodist University, on land donated by three wealthy Los Angeles residents, it has grown to international prominence. The university opened with an enrollment of 53 students and a faculty of 10. Its first graduating class in 1884 was a class of three - two males and a female valedictorian. The University is no longer a Methodist institution, having ended formal ties with the church several decades ago; it is currently not religiously affiliated.

Related Topics:
1880 - Methodist - University - 1884 - Valedictorian

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USC has grown substantially since its founding. Besides its main campus ("University Park Campus"), which lies about 2 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles, the university also operates the Health Sciences Campus about 2 miles northeast of downtown; an Orange County center in Irvine for business, pharmacy, social work and education; and the Information Sciences Institute, with centers in Arlington, Virginia and Marina del Rey. The School of Policy, Planning, and Development also runs a satellite campus in Sacramento. In 2005, USC established a federal relations office in Washington, D.C.. There is also a Health Sciences Alhambra campus which holds The Institute for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Research (IPR) and the Masters in Public Health Program. USC went international in 2004, when it collaborated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University to offer the USC (Executive) EMBA program in Shanghai.

Related Topics:
Orange County - Irvine - Information Sciences Institute - Arlington, Virginia - Marina del Rey - Sacramento - 2005 - Washington, D.C. - 2004 - Shanghai Jiao Tong University - Shanghai

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USC's nickname is the Trojan, epitomized in the statue of Tommy Trojan near the center of campus. Until 1912, USC students (especially athletes) were known as Methodists or Wesleyans, though neither name was approved by the university. Following a fateful track and field meet with Stanford University, which USC lost tremendously, sportswriter Owen Bird reported that the USC athletes "fought like Trojans," and the president of the university at the time, George Bovard, approved the name officially.

Related Topics:
Tommy Trojan - 1912 - Stanford University - George Bovard

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The University Park Campus

The University Park campus is in the West Adams district of South Los Angeles, 2 miles southwest of Downtown Los Angeles. The campus' boundaries are Jefferson Boulevard on the north and northeast, Figueroa Street on the southeast, Exposition Boulevard on the south, and Vermont Avenue on the west. Since the 1960s, through campus vehicle traffic has been banned. The University Park campus is in close proximity to Los Angeles landmarks such as the Shrine Auditorium, Staples Center, and Los Angeles Coliseum. A popular spot for filmmakers, it has stood in for such institutions as Harvard and UC Berkeley in movies and on television. Most buildings are in the Romanesque style, although some dormitories, engineering buildings, and physical sciences labs are Brutalist structures that contrast with the predominantly cardinal-brick buildings. Beautifully landscaped courtyards and parks provide a welcome contrast from the urban environment outside the campus.

Related Topics:
West Adams - South Los Angeles - Downtown Los Angeles - Shrine Auditorium - Staples Center - Los Angeles Coliseum - Harvard - UC Berkeley - Romanesque - Brutalist

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USC's role in making visible and sustained improvements in the neighborhoods surrounding both the University Park and Health Sciences campuses earned it the distinction of College of the Year 2000 by the TIME/Princeton Review College Guide. Roughly half of the university's students volunteer in community-service programs in neighborhoods around campus and throughout Los Angeles. These outreach programs, as well as previous administrations' commitment to remaining in South Los Angeles amid widespread calls to move the campus following the 1965 Watts Riots, are credited for the safety of the university during the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. (That the university emerged from the riots completely unscathed is all the more remarkable in light of the complete destruction of several strip malls in the area, including one just across Vermont Avenue from the campus' western entrance.)

Related Topics:
TIME - Princeton Review - Watts Riots - 1992 Los Angeles Riots - Strip mall

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USC's most recent fund-raising drive raised nearly $2.9 billion, which is the largest total of any academic fund-raising drive in the history of higher education. (Columbia University, with $2.6 billion, placed second; Harvard University, with $2.2 billion, placed third.) USC and its partner institutions have recently completed or soon will be constructing 27 new buildings, which will provide nearly 8.1 million square feet (750,000 m²) of new space for research, teaching, patient care, and enrichment of student life.

Related Topics:
Columbia University - Harvard University

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