USC professor had affair with student, lawsuit says
Tomo Chien
October 27, 2025
Good morning. It’s Monday, and these are the five USC, Los Angeles, and California stories you need to know for today.
The newsletter will be off tomorrow while I travel home from a work trip.
1.
A high-ranking USC professor had an affair with a student then later had children with her, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court. It's unclear if the sexual relationship with law student, who had recently completed her undergraduate degree, violated university policy.
2.
U.S. colleges are bleeding doctoral students to countries like Australia, China, and the U.K. The trend predates the Trump administration but has only been accelerated by its policies, experts say. “We have the strongest system of graduate education in the world,” said USC professor Julie Posselt. “Losing that is a big concern for people.”
3.
In case you missed it: USC listed its Santa Monica president’s mansion for sale at an asking price of $9.98 million. The sleek, four-bed, five-bath modernist compound served as a home for former President Carol Folt, who stepped down from her role in July.
4.
On LA’s Figueroa Street, just an eight-minute drive from USC, prostitution has run rampant for years. It’s only getting worse. Juvenile girls, some as young as 11, are increasingly being exploited by pimps on the street. A New York Times reporter spent more than two years documenting the notorious sex-trafficking corridor.
5.
President Donald Trump made an eleventh-hour decision to call off a surge of federal law enforcement to San Francisco last week. It was a vindication for Mayor Daniel Lurie, who, unlike his counterpart in LA, has strategically refused to antagonize Trump. “Sometimes nice guys finish first,” wrote columnist Adam Lashinsky.