Today marks the start of a year of celebration for the USC Alumni Association as it commemorates a century of bringing alumni together and strengthening their ties to the university through networking, acts of service and philanthropy.
The centennial will include a variety of digital and in-person calls to action, including local and international activities for Trojan to celebrate the first 100 years of the university’s unified alumni engagement efforts to support academic, athletic and research achievements. The association is also advancing the future of USC’s leadership in advanced computing, sustainability and other lunar points identified by USC President Carol L. Folt, as well as USC’s exciting transition into the Big Ten Conference.
The Alumni Association currently has 480,000 living alumni members and supports a wide variety of affiliated alumni organizations such as industry and affinity networks, specific school groups, multicultural alumni organizations, women’s groups, and more. The association also hosts events and programs around the world.
Patrick Auerbach, associate senior vice president for alumni relations at USC, hopes the broad and inclusive nature of USC’s centennial celebrations will communicate a message of success come to all alumni.
We will use the centennial message to celebrate a century of the Trojan family to make sure people know there is a place for everyone in the Alumni Association, said Auerbach, who has served as USC’s chief alumni relations officer since 2013 and she earned her Doctor of Education from USC in 2008. We want to create a welcoming and open opportunity for everyone to be involved in the part of USC that means the most to them.
A story of bringing the Trojans together
The Alumni Association had several iterations in the past before receiving its current name in 1998.
Banners along Trousdale Parkway on the University Park campus commemorate the 100th anniversary of the alumni association. (Photo/Sal Garca)
In 1885, a group of eight USC College of Liberal Arts alumni, including future USC fourth president George Finley Bovard, created the university’s first alumni association. In the years that followed, other alumni associations of the school were formed, including groups for law, dentistry, pharmacy and other disciplines.
Because individual groups lacked a sense of university-wide community, several alumni leaders met in May 1923 to discuss the need to create an all-USC association to unite what would be called the Troy family.
Shortly after USC’s 40th commencement on Thursday evening, June 21, 1923, a community of USC alumni, volunteer leaders, and trustees gathered in what is now known as Founders Park to officially establish the General Alumni Association, which grew until reaching more than 4,800 members. by the end of his first year.
The organization was founded during a year that marked major changes for both USC and the city of Los Angeles. In 1923, the Graduate School of USC was founded; students came together to form the Newman Club on campus, which would eventually become the USC Caruso Catholic Center; and a USC student wrote All Hail, the USC alma mater still used today. In show business, the Hollywoodland sign has been erected over the city; opening of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum; and both The Walt Disney Co. and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. were founded in the same year.
USC Alumni Association: Evolution Over the Years
The General Alumni Association was the primary fundraising arm of the university during its early decades, raising funds to donate the Troy Sanctuary (aka Tommy Trojan) to the university on its 50th anniversary and purchasing and donating the land around the Doheny Memorial Library to create the gathering space that is now known as Alumni Memorial Park, among other critical contributions that transformed the university from a collection of buildings into a cohesive campus.
One of the General Alumni Association’s early achievements was the creation of USC’s first Bureau of Employment in the Student Union Building, an employment office for students and alumni.
Alumni show off their Trojan spirit during homecoming in 2022. (Photo/Courtesy of USC Alumni Association)
As USC has grown over the decades, the association’s role has expanded to include enhancing the university’s reputation, building a support system through alumni networks, raising money for scholarships student study and increased student recruitment with an intentional push for more students from multicultural backgrounds.
The 1970s saw a rise in affinity groups from black alumni who wanted to see more support, recruitment, and encouragement for students. The Mexican American Alumni Association (now known as the Latino Alumni Association) was formed in 1973, followed by the Ebonics Support Group (now known as the Black Alumni Association) in 1976 and the Asian Pacific Support Group (now known as the Asian Pacific Alumni Association ) in 1982. In 1992, the Lambda LGBTQ+ Alumni Association was officially recognized after two decades of advocacy.
A Lifetime of Service with the USC Alumni Association
The Alumni Association has been an important part of the professional and personal life of USC alum and Centennial Advisory Committee Jerry Papazian for more than three decades. The third generation of Angelenos, the first person in his family to go to college, earning a joint degree from USC in business and public relations in 1977, grew up idolizing the university. From a young age, he saw the enormous impact of USC on his hometown and wanted to be a part of it. Papazian became one of the youngest presidents of the Alumni Association in 1994 and has been vocal in his support for greater inclusiveness among alumni groups and welcoming affinity groups to unite under the umbrella of the Alumni Association.
One hundred years of the Trojan family
During one of the first meetings of the Centennial Advisory Committee, the group tried to describe exactly what it was celebrating. Someone in the group finally replied: Aren’t we honoring 100 years of the family of Troy?
Anyone who touches USC, whether it’s a neighbor, parent, or staff member — that’s the Troy family.
Jerry Papaziani
Papazian believes this simple answer sums up why the Alumni Association matters so much to so many people and why it will likely remain essential for the next 100 years.
Anyone who touches USC, whether it’s a neighbor, a parent, or a staff member — that’s Troy’s family, he said. People come and say, “Oh, this doesn’t actually exist, but once you get here and stay for a while, you see it and you feel it.” If that’s what we’re celebrating, I’m in.
Personalize your alumni experience
I hope alumni see this year as a time to really celebrate the Alumni Association and that younger alumni see it as an opportunity to put themselves out there, said Melody Nishida, centennial co-chair, 1978 graduate of All ‘USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. Nishida has volunteered as a member of the board of governors of alumni associations and in several women’s associations, councils, groups and conferences of leadership. Everything I’ve done with the Alumni Association has challenged me to learn different things while working with a diverse group of people, she said.
LEARN MORE: Visit the Alumni Associations Centennial Website.
Auerbach emphasized that there are many ways for alumni to stay involved with the university, including volunteering, mentoring students, speaking in USC classes, helping students find jobs, making financial contributions, supporting USC, and read USC releases and specific school publications.
He acknowledges that today’s alumni want to engage with the university on their own terms. We’ve evolved our model to be more customizable, because we want our Alumni Association to be an industry leader where you can relate to us the way you want to relate to us, said Auerbach, who said the organization has seen other universities emulate its programs. Societies change and social norms have changed. As an alumni association, we really strived to be a trendsetter in that space.
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