USC Trojan Family Magazine

President’s Page

Spring 2007

By Steven B. Sample

Homecoming Weekend this year was fabulous. Before going to the Coliseum to watch our Trojans beat the Oregon Ducks, Kathryn and I walked around campus talking to students, alumni, parents and other members of the Trojan Family. We visited with Trojan superstars Anthony Davis and Cheryl Miller at the USC Black Alumni Association tent and commended them for their contributions to USC. Just the night before in the new Galen Center, USC had honored Cheryl Miller by retiring her basketball jersey and that of fellow Trojan great Lisa Leslie. During the ceremony Cheryl recalled that it was a Trojan who advised her to attend USC and not that university west of here because “you’re a Bruin for four years – but you’re a Trojan for life. And,” Cheryl told the cheering crowd, “I really am a Trojan for life!”

That’s the difference – lifetime membership in the strongest university network ever. You don’t have to be a Trojan or live in Southern California to marvel at the bonds of the Trojan Family. In a recent opinion piece, businessman and author Harvey Mackay, who wrote the best-selling book Swim with the Sharks without Being Eaten Alive, ranked our Trojan Family as number one among university networks.

Mackay, who is not a Trojan, made a tongue-in-cheek reference to the “Southern Cal Mafia” and wrote that he wasn’t sure whether Trojans “take a blood oath to help, hire, mentor and generally take care of each other, but they act as if they do.” He added this: “From the day you graduate, the USC network is there for you. And, in turn, you as a graduate are expected to be there for other USC alumni.”

Our alumni certainly are there for their fellow Trojans. This fall two alumni – business entrepreneur Ming Hsieh and legendary filmmaker George Lucas – gave generous gifts to USC. The academic and research opportunities that will radiate from their gifts will benefit generations of Trojans to come.

Hsieh, who had gone into business with some Trojan classmates after graduation, gave a naming gift of $35 million to the electrical engineering department in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering (which is also named for a Trojan!). In making his gift, Hsieh cited the impact that USC and his Trojan connections had had on his life and career.

Lucas described USC as the place where as a student he discovered his passion for film and the making of movies. He and his Lucasfilm Foundation gave $175 million – the largest single gift USC has ever received – to build a new home for our newly renamed USC School of Cinematic Arts and to provide the school with a permanent endowment of $100 million.

In addition, the USC Galen Center, which is named for Trojan alumnus and trustee Lou Galen and his wife, Helene, opened this fall. It is a particular point of pride that this magnificent amphitheatre and pavilion bear the name of one of our own and not that of a commercial enterprise.

To me, all of these Trojans – through their words and their deeds – personify what the Trojan Family is all about. It’s about lifelong bonds, fond memories, affection and loyalty, the power of kindness, generosity, respect for others and the joy that comes from giving back to help the younger members of the family.

As Cheryl Miller told the crowd at the Galen Center, she’s a Trojan for life. So it is for each of us. No matter how far we travel from USC or how much time passes, we are – and always will be – Trojans. No blood oath is needed. Only the warmth and strength we create through our lifelong and worldwide Trojan Family.

Front and center, Anthony Davis,
Cheryl Miller and Steven Sample at Homecoming, with Kathryn Sample to the left of Davis.