Editor-in-Chief Spring 2020

  • Cover breaking news following gynecologist sexual misconduct scandal and aftermath of scandal following medical school dean who did drugs while with patients for award-winning publication
  • Reported on evictions near campus that occurred when owner wanted to raise rent and market toward students
  • Serve as final say on sensitive stories regarding university scandals and the board of trustees
  • Trained editors on managing respective teams; advise news, features and copy editors

Top Stories

USC reaches $852 million settlement with Tyndall abuse survivors

USC will pay $852 million to more than 700 patients of former campus gynecologist George Tyndall after reaching a settlement Thursday, making it the largest sexual abuse settlement in history against any university. The development follows a $215 million class action lawsuit approved in February 2020 that allowed the University to provide payouts ranging from $2,500 to $250,000 to former patients who chose to come forward. “Our abuse has been recognized at a higher level,” said Daniella Mohazab ...

Proud to be Latinx

Since arriving at USC, sophomore Micaela Mengen has tried to drink mate as often as she can. It’s a close tie to life at home with her Uruguayan family in New Jersey. She hasn’t tried to make her grandmother’s tortas fritas yet but plans to when she finds the right ingredients in Los Angeles. “It’s definitely very hard to preserve my Uruguayan culture,” Mengen said, before acknowledging that in New Jersey she was never around many Uruguayans anyway. “It’s very hard to get access to my food ...

Prosecutors criticize ex-PIMCO chief’s plea for resentencing

Federal prosecutors have denounced former PIMCO chief Douglas Hodge’s plea for resentencing in the college admissions scandal in documents filed Friday, arguing that the new information that surfaced after his sentencing did nothing to change his degree of culpability in the scandal. In a memorandum filed May 1, Hodge claimed that the government withheld evidence that would serve in his favor and that it erroneously labeled his involvement in the scandal as bribery following the surfacing of new ...

Mexicana de corazón: Student recalls family’s sacrifices

Trumpets blasted and cymbals clashed as Selene Castillo walked among the other student representatives across Alumni Park last month. She sported a black and red robe, but it wasn’t her graduation day — she was taking part in Carol Folt’s inauguration as USC’s 12th president. As she held the wooden rod of the Bovard flag in her hands and stood around the fountain, watching faculty and staff roll in and listening to the announcer, Castillo could barely contain her excitement. She had just started ...

Former campus gynecologist arrested, charged with 29 felony counts

Former campus gynecologist George Tyndall, who has been accused of sexual assault by over 650 patients, was arrested Wednesday and charged with 29 felony accounts regarding his interactions with 16 former patients. According to the complaint obtained by the Daily Trojan, Tyndall faces 18 counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person. The document, signed by sex crimes prosecutor and Deputy District Attorney Reinhold Mueller, also shows that Tyndall faces 11 counts of sexual battery by ...

USC community mourns loss of Nipsey Hussle in wake of violence concerns

Jonathan Richards recalls feeling his body shake and his stomach flip upon learning that rapper and activist Nipsey Hussle had been shot on Sunday. “I literally sprinted to my car and went back home and went to Slauson to figure out what was going on,” said Richards, a freshman majoring in business administration. “Then we got the tweet that he died. Everybody was in shock. We didn’t know what to do.” Richardson was one of the over 50 individuals who gathered in front of Tommy Trojan Tuesday ...

Student activists from Nicaragua address country's crisis

When President Daniel Ortega announced the changes to social security in Nicaragua, Lesther Alemán was one of the students protesting. He fled as police pelted them with rocks and threw tear gas directly at bodies in the crowd. “We were walking with people in suits and ties and women wearing heels that were leaving work,” Alemán told the Daily Trojan in an interview in Spanish. “[It was] near 6 p.m. when we left running. In the meantime, my university was being attacked.” Jeancarlo López said ....

Two USC alumni attend Archbishop Oscar Romero canonization ceremony

When Edwin Juarez Rosales and Sergio Avelar attended the beatification of Archbishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador in 2015, they were overwhelmed. The Salvadoran Catholic advocate for human rights would become a saint within their lifetime. Three years later, just as they had hoped, Pope Francis canonized Romero, drawing thousands of Catholics and Salvadorans to Vatican City — Juarez and Avelar among them. At 4 a.m. on Oct. 14, the morning of the canonization, the two USC alumni lined up outside ....

Protestors denounce Shapiro’s rhetoric

The chant “racist, fascist, anti-gay, Ben Shapiro go away,” rang through Hahn Plaza Thursday as nearly 250 students and community members protested the conservative speaker at Tommy Trojan. After a week of outcry from cultural assemblies and other organizations, protesters held banners and signs stating “No to Shapiro. No to bigotry” as they denounced his speech at Bovard Auditorium, calling his views discriminatory and labeling them as hate speech. Aubtin Heydari, who was injured at the ....

A community uprooted

For the last few weeks, Robert Evans has been without a home. He’s moved from friend’s house to friend’s house with nothing but his work clothing, crashing only for sleep and then heading to his graveyard shift as a security guard in the evenings. Evans’ life, like that of many residents along the 1100 block of Exposition Boulevard, has been uprooted. He and other former tenants were forced to leave their homes in August after losing a nine-month battle with the new owners of the buildings, who ....

No longer welcome

After 14 years of living in the same apartment, Steven Baldwin came home one day in October to find a notice taped to his door. It read that he and his family had 60 days to move out, because the tenants of his building, along with six other buildings along the 1100 block of Exposition Boulevard, were being evicted. The property owners, who bought the complex in Sept. 2017, are planning to convert the units into housing for USC students following the current residents’ eviction, according to an ....

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USC reaches $852 million settlement with Tyndall abuse survivors

USC will pay $852 million to more than 700 patients of former campus gynecologist George Tyndall after reaching a settlement Thursday, making it the largest sexual abuse settlement in history against any university. The development follows a $215 million class action lawsuit approved in February 2020 that allowed the University to provide payouts ranging from $2,500 to $250,000 to former patients who chose to come forward. “Our abuse has been recognized at a higher level,” said Daniella Mohazab ...

USC joins lawsuit against federal government move to restrict H-1B visas

USC has joined a lawsuit against the federal government following its proposal to amend the H-1B visa program, which permits highly skilled international individuals, including recently graduated international students and international faculty at USC, to remain in the United States to work. The new restrictions, announced by the departments of Homeland Security and Labor Oct. 6, will narrow the range of occupations eligible for the visa and modify wage requirements to encourage employers to ...

Proud to be Latinx

Since arriving at USC, sophomore Micaela Mengen has tried to drink mate as often as she can. It’s a close tie to life at home with her Uruguayan family in New Jersey. She hasn’t tried to make her grandmother’s tortas fritas yet but plans to when she finds the right ingredients in Los Angeles. “It’s definitely very hard to preserve my Uruguayan culture,” Mengen said, before acknowledging that in New Jersey she was never around many Uruguayans anyway. “It’s very hard to get access to my food ...

Keck dean will step down from position to lead University’s geriatric efforts

Laura Mosqueda will step down from her position as dean of Keck School of Medicine of USC next month to focus on expanding the University’s geriatric efforts, Provost Charles Zukoski announced Monday. Mosqueda will be replaced by Dr. Narsing Rao in the interim, who has served as the Grace and Emery Beardsley Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology. “Serving as dean of the Keck School of Medicine has been an honor,” Mosqueda wrote in a statement. “I had the benefit of an outstanding team, and ...

Students hit the streets in their hometowns to support Black lives

It was Thursday afternoon when rising junior Phoebe Cook and her dad joined protesters near the Omni Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. They were angered by the death of George Floyd, who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis last week when a former officer pressed his knee against his neck for nearly nine minutes. “I was a person. I couldn’t breathe. I begged you for my life. You ignored my cries. You killed me,” read the sign she carried with her through Downtown. It was the same sign she ...

Prosecutors criticize ex-PIMCO chief’s plea for resentencing

Federal prosecutors have denounced former PIMCO chief Douglas Hodge’s plea for resentencing in the college admissions scandal in documents filed Friday, arguing that the new information that surfaced after his sentencing did nothing to change his degree of culpability in the scandal. In a memorandum filed May 1, Hodge claimed that the government withheld evidence that would serve in his favor and that it erroneously labeled his involvement in the scandal as bribery following the surfacing of new ...

USC launches initiative to prepare to reopen campus

The University has launched Project Restart, an initiative comprising faculty, staff and student working groups, to offer recommendations regarding the return to classes in the fall, Provost Charles Zukoski announced in a communitywide email Thursday. Remote instruction will still continue through both summer sessions due to the coronavirus pandemic. USC will continue to offer all degree programs and courses during the fall semester, according to the email. The University is looking into ...

USC to waive ACT, SAT requirements for Class of 2025 applicants

USC will not require prospective first-year students to submit ACT or SAT test scores during the upcoming application cycle, USC Admission announced Thursday. The decision follows that of other universities that have altered admissions requirements for the Class of 2025 due to disruptions from the coronavirus pandemic. Applicants to the freshman class will be required to submit transcripts, essays and letters of recommendation as usual with their application and will be able to submit standardized ...

Journey to Troy: How international students make USC their home

A quarter of USC’s student population is international, and yet this community is often underrepresented in the stories that are told at the University. In our special “A Long Way From Home” supplement issue, the Daily Trojan aims to spotlight the perspectives of international students who shape the culture of USC. Find all the stories here. For junior Maddy Ledger, it was learning how to navigate the health care system and finding out that Target sold groceries in addition to furniture and ...

USC to host virtual activities for May 15 commencement

USC has set plans for the Class of 2020’s virtual commencement ceremony, which will take place May 15, the originally set date for commencement, President Carol Folt announced in a Universitywide email Friday. The ceremony will include a conferment of degrees, performances and virtual events from individual schools. “You have all let us know how important it is to share personal moments with your friends, mentors, loved ones, and your individual schools,” Folt wrote. “We hope to bring you that ...

Price dean to resign

Price School of Public Policy Dean Jack Knott will step down from his position and accept a role as dean of New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development beginning Aug. 1. “As we prepare for interim leadership of the School and consider what our future may hold, I want to share my absolute confidence in this team,” Knott wrote in an email to the Price community. “I have long admired your dedication, hard work and sense of civic responsibility and service. ...

Richard Reeves remembered for his ability to listen

Richard Reeves, journalist and faculty member at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles from cardiac arrest, according to an In memoriam piece from Annenberg. He was 83. “Richard was one of his generation’s most accomplished political journalists,” Annenberg Journalism School director Gordon Stables wrote in a statement to the Daily Trojan. “He was a witness to history … He also loved to share through his teaching. He enjoyed every ...

DPS employee tests positive for the coronavirus

A Department of Public Safety employee has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to an email sent Sunday night from Chief Health Officer Dr. Sarah Van Orman and DPS Chief John Thomas to DPS personnel. The employee’s last shift was Wednesday, according to the email. The department has traced employees who may have had contact with the individual, notified them of the potential exposure and instructed them to monitor for coronavirus symptoms. “As members of the Department of Public ...

Keck medical professional tests positive for coronavirus

A health care professional at Keck Medical Center has tested positive for coronavirus, the Department of Public Safety confirmed in an email to the USC community Monday, marking the second case of coronavirus publicly confirmed by the University. The individual is currently at home in self-quarantine. The test result is considered presumptive and is awaiting confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the email. USC is currently working with the Los Angeles ...

University to keep classes online

USC has extended the period of remote instruction to the end of the semester, President Carol Folt announced in an email to the community Monday. The decision comes five days after the University announced it would transition to online classes for three weeks following spring break to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. “We are fortunate that with your help we already moved to teach our courses remotely and online, limit campus activities, implement working from home, cancel or postpone events ...

USC student tests positive for coronavirus, marking the University’s first confirmed case

A USC undergraduate student in Orange County has tested positive for coronavirus, Chief Health Officer Dr. Sarah Van Orman announced in a communitywide email. The student, who recently returned from traveling abroad, has not been on or near USC campuses since. The student is currently in good condition and in self-isolation at home, following guidelines from public health officials, according to the email. The University is currently contacting those who may have come in contact with the ...

Students encouraged to leave USC campuses

Students are encouraged to refrain from returning to USC through April 13 should they leave campus during spring break, following the University’s decision to extend remote instruction to April 14, Provost Charles Zukoski announced in a schoolwide email Wednesday. USC has announced this move alongside other universities around the country that continue to move online to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. USC asked students to leave University-owned housing for spring break and not return for ...

Classes to remain online in the week following spring break amid concerns of coronavirus

USC will extend online classes to one week after spring break as concern continues to grow regarding the spread of coronavirus, Provost Charles Zukoski announced Tuesday in an email to the USC community. The University has also canceled or postponed nearly all USC-sponsored events both on and off campus from Wednesday until March 29. “We believe the risk to our students, faculty, and staff remains low, but it is our responsibility to you and our greater community to be proactive in our efforts ...

USC to temporarily move classes online as a test of precautionary measures for coronavirus

USC will hold all classes through video call for a three-day trial period starting Wednesday to test backup measures in light of the continued spread of coronavirus, Provost Charles Zukoski announced Friday in a letter to the USC community. USC said the arrangement will ensure faculty and students are prepared in case the spread of coronavirus prevents the University from holding in-person classes. This move comes after Los Angeles County declared a public health crisis Wednesday and after ...
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