January 9, 2026
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, the deans and university leaders, and our faculty and staff—welcome to USC.
You are joining a remarkable university where you can learn from professors who are not just wonderful teachers, but leading researchers expanding the frontiers
of knowledge and discovery.
A university where you’ll not only be able to explore different disciplines—from engineering and the hard sciences to business, humanities, and the performing arts—but also combine and synthesize these different ways of thinking to prepare you for anything.
At USC, you’ll not only be able to watch our athletic teams compete in the Big Ten, but you’ll be able to cheer on student-athletes who, in just a few years, right here on our campus, will be competing for gold at the 2028 Olympics.
But you’re not just joining an amazing university today. You’re joining a community.
A community that both honors the past and shapes the future.
A community of thinkers, doers, and leaders who want to both understand the world and change it.
A community that both spans the globe with more than 500,000 alumni and, at the same time, is amazingly close-knit and caring.
It’s for good reason that, uniquely among universities, we refer to our community as a family. Being part of this family means that you could be eating at a restaurant in Dallas, D.C., or Delhi wearing USC merch—and before you know it, you’ve become friends with another Trojan from across the world.
Being a part of this family means that, when Trojans lost their homes a year ago in the Palisades and Altadena fires, other Trojans organized an effort to replace the USC diplomas and cherished possessions their fellow Trojans had lost.
You are now part of this remarkable Trojan Family. You’re now Trojans, lifelong and worldwide.
Like any family, we don’t all see things the same way. Some of us may be Swifties, and others may have Travis Scott on their playlists. Some of us love California for the weather, and others for the food. Some of us joined USC in the spring, and others in the fall.
That multiplicity of experiences and perspectives is one of our greatest strengths.
Not too long ago, there was a student here who was sitting where you are today. He was a transfer student who grew up on a walnut ranch in Modesto.
Just three days before his high school graduation, he got into a serious car accident and almost died. That event caused him to reconsider his dream of becoming a professional race car driver.
It also caused him to get a lot more serious about school. Instead of racing cars, he revisited an old hobby—photography—and began photographing racing events. In community college, he also dove into anthropology, writing, and philosophy.
By the time he transferred to USC, he had all sorts of interests and ideas, and was much more focused and mature.
But there was a problem. Based on his interests in photography and writing, he had decided he wanted to become a documentary filmmaker. Everyone told him he’d never get a job because he didn’t have any connections in the business, and that he really needed to think of something else to do.
So what did he do?
He ignored them. Instead of giving up, he doubled down on his goal.
He threw himself into film classes at USC and took every opportunity he could find to hone his craft—even turning a rudimentary one-minute animation exercise into a short film.
Nowadays, his stories about Jedis, droids, and raiders of a lost ark are known across the world. But before Star Wars and Indiana Jones, George Lucas was just another USC student—a student, just like you, whose experiences had uniquely equipped him to explore, learn, and make the most of his time here.
No one—including George Lucas himself—could have predicted where his winding path would lead. But he more than made up for that uncertainty with curiosity—combined with a belief in himself—even when the path ahead wasn’t clear.
Each one of you will bring your own experiences to USC, forged across different institutions, communities, and parts of the world. Those experiences are your strengths—your Force.
So please share who you are—your perspectives and ideas—in your classrooms, your dorm rooms, the studios and labs, and the playing field. Because everything that makes you who you are is also what makes USC so unique, special, and vibrant.
In the same way that you will shape USC, others at USC will shape you. You’ll meet people who will challenge you, surprise you, and hopefully make you laugh.
Some will become collaborators.
Some will become mentors.
Some will become friends.
You won’t discover everything on your own—you’ll discover it together. That spirit of shared exploration—of building something larger than yourself—is at the heart of USC. Sometimes the building will be tangible, like the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, opening later this year next to campus.
But you’ll also be building less tangible things—new ways of thinking, relationships, and shared moments together. Those are no less important.
USC’s mission and spirit are carried forward and renewed by students like you who keep adding sequels to our story—through your ideas, your questions, your creativity, and your care for one another. We on this stage can’t wait to see what stories come out of your time here.
Welcome to USC. Welcome to the Trojan Family. We’re glad you’re here.
And now, let’s say it together: Fight On!