USC memes: The central force in campus culture


USC is one of many college communities that have created its own meme page: an online space where students share images, videos and phrases that are altered creatively or humorously for the entertainment of their peers.

Memes are just the latest Internet-bred phenomenon breaking into the cultural mainstream. As a result, appreciating, sharing and creating memes is second nature to many today. “USC Memes for Spoiled Pre-Teens” is a public Facebook group that was created in November 2016 by freshmen Megan Andersen and Elise Vondra in response to the meme page phenomena that took over several California colleges, such as “UC Berkeley Memes for Edgy Teens” and “UCLA Memes for Sick AF Tweens.” Andersen, Vondra and freshman John Lynch are the three group administrators who regulate the page’s daily content.

The page did not pick up momentum until this past semester when more of the student population joined. Now, the page has nearly 15,500 members comprised of USC students as well as students from other universities across the nation, an outreach the creators did not anticipate.

“When [Megan] and I created the page back in November, we joked around a lot about striving to get 50 or 100 members,” Vondra said. “We really did not expect for the page to grow so much, or to get as much student interaction as we do.”

Much like a small-scale civil society, the page ebbs and flows with greater cultural trends as well as its own campus-specific fashions.

With new changes on campus comes new waves of memes — student annoyance toward the barricaded walkway in front of the Seeley G. Mudd building spurred a series of mocking memes. As the academic year winds to a close, the page is flooded with photos that evoke relatable feelings of cramming for final exams or graduating without job prospects. Following the early shut down of Springfest before headliner Rae Sremmurd could perform, students took to the meme page to express disappointment and criticize Concerts Committee’s poor planning.

Most recently, outrage over scarcity of spots in the USC Village set to open in Fall 2017 inspired memes that teased President C.L. Max Nikias for the general unrest resulting from Village construction and for his obsession with the new neo-Gothic university signage, dubbed “Pointy Things.” The mass attention to “Pointy Things” on the meme page became the catalyst for several student-run business ventures selling T-shirts and laptop stickers bearing Photoshopped images of Nikias gleefully straddling a “Pointy Thing.”

The stickers campaign, titled “Pointy Things for Spoiled Pre-Teens” were spearheaded by junior Luke McGartland, junior Erik Byargeon, senior Andrew Ullmann and senior Lukas Huberman. Online orders were available through Indiegogo and the campaign earned $610 with the vision “to bring a Nikias to every home!” The site also credits the USC Facebook meme group as the inspiration for the idea.

“I think the meme page actually gives students a place to come together from different social circles across campus and have some fun making light of different things going on at USC,” McGartland said.

Faizus Amin, a Muslim Student Union student leader, presented Nikias with a “Pointy Thing” figurine he had created with a 3-D printer, much to the amusement of Nikias himself and the members of the meme group.

“Investments into campus aesthetic with the pointy things has united the student body and the Trojan Family,” Amin told Nikias during their meeting. “Students of all backgrounds, races and politics have come together to discuss the absurdity behind the pointy things on a new platform … Memes! The meme page has really connected students from all backgrounds into one hilarious environment where we can all playfully poke fun at each other and about our campus.”

After meeting with Amin, Nikias became aware of the existence and impact of the meme page, posting his acknowledgement and support on his Instagram account.

With a dozen new memes posted daily to the page, “USC Memes for Spoiled Pre-Teens” is already deeply integrated into campus culture as a binding force and with an impact that will only grow wider. In spite of the diversity in the student population and today’s polarizing sociopolitical landscape, the meme page provides a platform for everyone to come together, laugh and agree, at the very least, that computer science majors need to learn to shower.