ampionship teams, Heisman trophy winners, All-Americans, and future NFL hall-of-famers than any other collegiate match-up. The two schools have kept the annual game on their schedules since 1926 (except 1942–44 because of World War II travel restrictions) and the game is often referred to

k Cup as the top collegiate woman athlete of the year: Cheryl Miller (1983–84) and Angela Williams (2001–02). And Trojan women have won 8 Honda Awards, as the top female athlete in their sport.
The Women of Troy have won 7 championships in tennis, 6 in volleyball, 3 in water polo, 2 in golf, 2 in basketball, 1 in swimming and diving, 1 in track and field, and 1 in soccer.
Traditions and student activities[edit]



USC mascot Traveler with Trojan Warrior and The Spirit of Troy
As one of the oldest universities in California, the University of Southern California has a long and storied history resulting in a number of modern traditions, some of which are outlined here:
USC's official fight song is "Fight On", which was composed in 1922 by USC dental student Milo Sweet (with lyrics by Sweet and Glen Grant).
Rivalries[edit]


During the week prior to the traditional USC-UCLA rivalry football game, the Tommy Trojan statue is covered to prevent UCLA vandalism.
Main articles: Notre Dame – USC rivalry and UCLA–USC rivalry
USC has rivalries with multiple schools. Though generally limited to football, USC has a major rivalry with Notre Dame. The annual game is played for the Jeweled Shillelagh. The rivalry has featured more national championship teams, Heisman trophy winners, All-Americans, and future NFL hall-of-famers than any other collegiate match-up. The two schools have kept the annual game on their schedules since 1926 (except 1942–44 because of World War II travel restrictions) and the game is often referred to as the greatest intersectional rivalry in college football.[120][121][122][123][124]
USC's cross-town rival is UCLA, with whom there is fierce athletic and scholastic competition. Both are within L.A. city limits, approximately 10 miles (16 km) apart. Until 1982 the two schools also shared the same football stadium, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The victor of the annual football game takes home the Victory Bell. The Trojans and Bruins also compete in a year-long all-sports competition for the Lexus Gauntlet Trophy. Pranks between UCLA and USC were commonplace several decades ago. Both universities have cracked down on pranks since a 1989 incident when USC students released hundreds of crickets into the main UCLA library during finals week.[125] Days before a clash between rivals UCLA and USC in 2009, the Bruins mascot was vandalized. It was splashed in cardinal and gold paint, USC's official colors sparking memories of pranks played in the years earlier.[126] The week preceding the annual football matchup with UCLA is known as "Troy Week" and features a number of traditions including CONQUEST! "The Ultimate Trojan Experience", Save Tommy Night, the CONQUEST! Bonfire, and all-night vigils by the Trojan Knights to protect the campus from UCLA Bruins.
In addition, USC has rivalries with other Pac-12 schools, particularly Stanford as they are the only two private universities in the conference and are situated at opposing regions of California, as well as being the two oldest private research universities in California, 1880 and 1891 respectively. Recently, a rivalry has begun to exist between USC and the University of Oregon because o

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ummer Olympics through the 2008 games, 393 Trojan athletes have competed in the Games, taking home 122 gold medals, 76 silver and 60 bronze.[31] If it were an independent country, USC would be

The Galen Center, home of USC basketball and volleyball
The USC Trojans participate in the NCAA Division I (FBS) Pacific-12 Conference and has won 115 total team national championships (non-NCAA and NCAA): 92 for men and 23 for women. Of this total, 80 and 14 are NCAA National Championships for men and women, respectively. The NCAA does not include college football championships in its calculation. Though there are multiple organizations that name national championships, USC claims 11 football championships. The men's 361 Individual Championships are the second-best in the nation and 53 ahead of third place Texas. USC's cross-town rival is UCLA, with whom there is fierce athletic and scholastic competition. USC's rivalry with Notre Dame—though generally limited to football—predates the UCLA rivalry by three years. The Notre Dame rivalry stems mainly from the annual football game played between these two universities and is considered one of the greatest rivalries in college athletics.[116]
USC has won 96 NCAA team championships, 3rd behind cross-town rival UCLA (108) and Stanford (103). The Trojans have also won at least one national team title in 26 consecutive years (1959–60 to 1984–85). USC won the National College All-Sports Championship, an annual ranking by USA Today of the country's top athletic programs, 6 times since its inception in 1971. Four Trojans have won the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in America: diver Sammy Lee (1953), shot putter Parry O'Brien (1959), swimmer John Naber (1977) and swimmer Janet Evans (1989).
From the 1904 Summer Olympics through the 2008 games, 393 Trojan athletes have competed in the Games, taking home 122 gold medals, 76 silver and 60 bronze.[31] If it were an independent country, USC would be ranked 14th in the world in terms of medals.[117] Since 1912, USC is the only university in the world to have a gold medal-winning athlete in every summer Olympiad.[31]
Men's sports[edit]


The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum during a USC football game
In men's sports, USC has won 93 team national championships (80 NCAA titles) - more than any other school - and male athletes have won a record 303 individual NCAA titles. The Trojans have won 26 championships in track and field, 20 in tennis, 12 in baseball, 9 in swimming and diving, 7 in water polo, 6 in volleyball, 2 in indoor track and field, and 1 in gymnastics.[c] USC's men's basketball has appeared in the NCAA tournament 15 times, and made 2 NCAA Final Four appearances.
The USC football program has consistently ranked among the best in the Division I FBS in recent years. During the term of Pete Carroll as head coach, the Trojans improved their rankings and competed in a variety of bowls and championships. The Trojans football team has won 11 national championships.[118] Seven players have won the Heisman Trophy, although the school claims six, after alleged violations involving Reggie Bush. As of 2011, 472 Trojans have been taken in the NFL Draft, more than any other university.[119]
Women's sports[edit]
Women's teams have earned 23 national championships. The Women of Troy have brought home 64 individual NCAA crowns. Two Women of Troy athletes have won the Honda-Broderic

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Boehm, Warren Bennis, Todd Boyd, T.C. Boyle, Leo Buscaglia, Drew Casper, Manuel Castells, Erw

osophical Society,[102] and 9 to the National Academy of Public Administration.[102] 29 USC faculty are listed as among the "Highly Cited" in the Institute for Scientific Information database.[103] George Olah won the 1994 Nobel Prize in Chemistry[104] and was the founding director of the Loker Hydrocarbon Research Institute. Leonard Adleman won the Turing Award in 2003.[105] Arieh Warshel won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry [106]
In fiscal year 2007 USC expended $415.2 million on research, and major funding came from federal agencies: the Department of Health and Human Services granted $182.4 million, Department of Defense $45.7 million, and National Science Foundation $41.8 million.[107] Total foundation and association sponsorship totaled $43.1 million, corporate research $30.6 million, and local government funding totaled $28.1 million.[107]
The university also supports the Pacific Council on International Policy through joint programming, leadership collaboration, and facilitated connections among students, faculty, and Pacific Council members.[108]
The university has two National Science Foundation–funded Engineering Research Centers: the Integrated Media Systems Center and the Center for Biomimetic Microelectronic Systems. [109] The Department of Homeland Security selected USC as its first Homeland Security Center of Excellence. Since 1991, USC has been the headquarters of the NSF and USGS funded Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC). The University of Southern California is a founding and charter member of CENIC, the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California, the nonprofit organization, which provides extremely high-performance Internet-based networking to California's K-20 research and education community. USC researcher Jonathan Postel was an editor of communications-protocol for the fledgling internet, also known as ARPANET.[110]
Notable USC faculty include or have included the following: Leonard Adleman, Richard Bellman, Aimee Bender, Barry Boehm, Warren Bennis, Todd Boyd, T.C. Boyle, Leo Buscaglia, Drew Casper, Manuel Castells, Erwin Chemerinsky, Thomas Crow, António Damásio, Francis De Erdely, Percival Everett, Murray Gell-Mann, Seymour Ginsburg, G. Thomas Goodnight, Jane Goodall, Solomon Golomb, Midori Goto, Susan Estrich, Janet Fitch, Tomlinson Holman, Henry Jenkins, Thomas H. Jordan, Pierre Koenig, Neil Leach, Leonard Maltin, Daniel L. McFadden, George Olah, Paul Orfalea, George V. Chilingar, Simon Ramo, Irving Reed, Michael Waterman, Frank Gehry, Arieh Warshel, Lloyd Welch, Jonathan Taplin and Diane Winston.
Alumni[edit]

See also: List of University of Southern California people
There are currently more than 340,000 alumni members.[111] Among the notable alumni of the University of Southern California have become prominent scientists, musicians, businessmen, engineers, architects, athletes, actors, politicians, and those that have gained both national and international fame. To keep alumni connected, the Trojan network consists of over 100 alumni groups on five continents. A common saying among those associated with the school is that one is a "Trojan for Life".[112][113][114] Among notable alumni are Neil Armstrong, the first human to step on the moon, George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars trilogy, and deposed President of Egypt Mohamed Morsi, the first ever democratically elected president in the history of Egypt.[115]
Athletics[edit]

Main article: USC Trojans

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