What the deans did for spring break
Tomo Chien
March 23, 2026
Good morning. It’s Monday, and these are the five USC, Los Angeles, and California stories you need to know for today.
1.
Spring break looks a lot different for deans than students, but USC’s academic leaders still had some fun. James Bullock (Dornsife) was in D.C. for an alumni event. Carolyn Meltzer (Keck) hung out with some college buddies. Jason King (Thornton) went to a concert at the Fonda. And Franita Tolson (Gould) apparently attended a fancy occasion.
2.
Pundits and politicians blasted USC last week, accusing the school of excluding Democratic candidates of color from a gubernatorial debate it’s hosting tomorrow. It may be something of a tempest in a teapot: USC emphatically denied allegations of bias and shared the formula it used to determine eligibility.
3.
USC said it’ll remove a plaque in Founders Park commemorating Cesar Chavez’s visits to the school. The move makes USC one of the latest institutions to scrub references to the late labor icon after a bombshell New York Times investigation surfaced allegations that he sexually abused minors.
4.
In case you missed it: USC’s non-tenure-track faculty will likely soon unionize after federal officials rejected the university’s efforts to block the labor drive. A union election will now take place in April, setting the stage for 2,750 faculty to become USC’s latest academic workers to organize.
5.
USC has long published a livestream of Hahn Plaza, the main campus intersection with Tommy Trojan. But it’s on a little-known webpage that’s of limited use. So I built a website with a one-hour archive of the footage that you can cut, splice, and edit for social media — perfect for quirky photo ops. Check it out at tommycamera.com.
