USC aces antisemitism report card
Tomo Chien
March 11, 2026
Good morning. It’s Wednesday, and these are the five USC, Los Angeles, and California stories you need to know for today.
1.
The Anti-Defamation League gave USC an “A” in its annual antisemitism report card — up from a “C” last year. The group cited arguably performative actions, like biennial employee antisemitism prevention training, but USC was nonetheless the only university in California to receive the ADL’s highest grade.
2.
Another win for the student government: Last night’s meeting lasted only seven minutes when none of the school’s paid student senators signed up to present bills. The land acknowledgment took up a substantial portion of the meeting, as detailed in an uncharacteristically scathing Daily Trojan article.
3.
Your next trip to LAX could get more expensive if you’re taking an Uber or Lyft. Airport officials approved a substantial fee hike for private transportation companies that will go into effect when the long-awaited people mover starts operating this summer. The fees are meant to ease congestion and encourage public transit use.
4.
USC named five new University and Distinguished Professors, which are among the school’s highest faculty honors. They are: Darius Lakdawalla (Mann and Price), Heinz-Josef Lenz (Keck), María P. Aranda (Dworak-Peck), David Hirshleifer (Marshall), and Chanita Hughes-Halbert (Keck). They average 3.73 out of 5 in our Rate My Professors database.
5.
Some personal news: I’ve joined L.A. Material, a new news outlet founded by a stellar team of LA Times veterans with a proven track record of investigating this city’s institutions — including USC. I’ll link to our biggest stories in this newsletter, but you can also subscribe to Material’s daily email brief ahead of our launch next week.
