Faculty group pushes new free speech measures
Tomo Chien
August 28, 2025
Good morning. It’s Thursday, and I’m reading about the risks of being an organ donor. Onto the five USC, Los Angeles, and California stories you need to know for today.
1.
A faculty group charged with analyzing USC’s free speech climate suggested that the school add new elements to required undergraduate writing courses and form an academic freedom council. Students “worry about social or institutional punishment for expressing unconventional views,” the group wrote.
2.
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles laid off or reassigned over 400 employees, citing “growing financial challenges.” The hospital, which is widely considered one of the top medical centers for children on the West Coast, is affiliated with USC — many physicians hold faculty roles at the Keck School of Medicine.
3.
The Coliseum got a culinary boost just in time for football season, and is now offering new menu items — including loaded mac and cheese, lobster rolls, and chicken and waffles — at 22 new kiosks. There’s also a new “beer cave” with “beer jets.”
4.
A spate of shootings in South LA this week left two dead and seven injured in the Vermont Knolls neighborhood. Homicides in LA are continuing their multiyear decline, but data shows that Vermont Knolls, which is roughly 5 miles from campus, has seen stubbornly consistent homicide numbers since 2023.
5.
The photographer Cam Lindfors visited UC Santa Barbara and published a euphoric, dreamy photo book depicting Isla Vista college life. “It felt like a parallel universe,” he said. “Everyone was young and hot, half-naked, bench-pressing in the yard, and shotgunning beers at 11 a.m. I remember thinking, ‘What the hell is going on here?’”