Former USC student charged with rape
Tomo Chien
October 16, 2025
Good morning. It’s Thursday, and these are the five USC, Los Angeles, and California stories you need to know for today.
Sorry for all the off days this week. I was traveling for a work conference.
1.
LA prosecutors charged a former USC graduate student with eight counts of sexual assault. Sizhe Weng, 30, is accused of drugging and raping three women between 2021 and 2025 while completing his doctorate. USC officials said they haven’t received any reports that students were among Weng’s alleged victims.
2.
Brown University became the second school to reject the Trump administration’s so-called compact after the White House extended its offer to all U.S. colleges. The first nine schools to receive the offer, including USC, have until next Monday to send initial responses to the deal that’d offer favorable funding in exchange for conservative reforms.
3.
The Big Ten is mulling a landmark deal with the University of California’s investment arm that’d inject $2.4 billion into its 18 member schools and reshape how the league distributes its revenues. One problem: USC isn’t on board. Trustees are reportedly unhappy that the school would receive less revenue than the Big 10’s legacy programs.
4.
The LA County Medical Examiner identified the victim of last week’s fatal apartment fire near USC as 66-year-old David Terhune. He was a resident of the Heritage student apartments on Portland Street but did not attend the school.
5.
USC became a mecca for space nerds over fall break when it hosted the Mars Society’s annual three-day convention. Astronomers mingled with sci-fi fans and I.T. guys as they attended talks like “Debating the Martian Constitution” and “Brewing Quality Coffee on Mars” — then bought Elon Musk socks and “Occupy Mars” hoodies.