Carol Folt finally steps down. Many students are stoked

USC President Carol Folt is stepping down from her post, she said in a universitywide email Friday morning.

Her tenure will be the shortest of any USC president in over a century.

It is unclear what Folt plans next, though she wrote that she is “excited to embrace the freedom that comes with a next big leap” and indicated that she may take a role as a tenured faculty member. Her resignation is effective July 2025.

Students immediately took to social media to celebrate the news. “Ding dong the witch is dead,” one commented on an Annenberg Media Instagram post. “BYE PUMPKIN!!!” commented another.

“You guys bullied this woman so much she decided she had enough,” somebody posted on SideChat.

“Please choose Michelle Obama,” wrote another. The Sack of Troy satire newspaper also had its own snarky take.

In her announcement, Folt touted her “Presidential Moonshot” initiatives, a variety of big-dollar projects that include the construction of a new advanced computing building, a $200 million football facility, the $49.4 million purchase of a satellite D.C. campus, and a move to the Big Ten sports conference.

She inherited the university in 2019 at one of its worst moments amid the Varsity Blues admissions scandal and hundreds of allegations of sexual assault against USC gynecologist George Tyndall.

The president led through the COVID-19 pandemic, through Tyndall’s death, and divisive pro-Palestinian protests last spring.

Folt’s tenure was marred by bungled decision-making and frequent clashes with senior faculty. Her axing of scholarships and response to the spring protests made her broadly unpopular among the student population.

A university spokesperson did not respond when asked if Morning, Trojan’s “Moron of the Year” trophy served as a catalyst for Folt’s decision.