USC ‘Yellow Jackets’ are seen handing out coupons to students
Students and other security ambassadors were surprised about coupon distribution.
By KARTHIK KRISHNAMURTHY
Since Aug. 15, students entering University Park Campus are regularly greeted by security ambassadors — commonly known as “Yellow Jackets” because of their bright-yellow-and-red uniform — as they tap their USCards before dashing off to class. The security ambassadors are also stationed at various intersections near campus at night, where they keep watch over students.
However, some security ambassadors have gone beyond the call of duty.
Students spotted security ambassadors at the Watt Way campus entrance handing out coupons for Jersey Mike’s around noon on Oct. 22. Similar incidents were reported with Uber coupons, as well as at the Trousdale North Entrance.
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Jeslyn Mi, a freshman majoring in business administration, said she was walking past the Trousdale North Entrance when she saw security ambassadors handing things out to each student as they entered campus earlier this month.
“I thought it was kind of weird,” Mi said. “I usually don’t see [security ambassadors] doing things like that.”
The USC Ambassadors are security personnel contracted by USC from Allied Universal, a security and facility services company.
Security ambassadors are unarmed, privately contracted and only have to meet state requirements to be licensed as private security, in addition to 40 hours of arrest and control, first aid and CPR training.
Security ambassadors have no connection to the Department of Public Safety, and they cannot directly intervene in conflicts; rather, they report any suspicious activity to DPS. Security ambassadors are stationed at campus entrances as well as nearby neighborhoods.
In response to a request for comment from the Daily Trojan, the University wrote on Nov. 7 to contact Allied Universal about coupon distributions as the University does not directly manage the security ambassadors.
At the time of publication, Allied Universal did not respond to a request for comment.
The University wrote in a statement after publication that they investigated the matter.
“Although we found no evidence confirming that these distributions occurred, we have reiterated our best practices to our Allied Universal ambassadors,” the University wrote Friday morning. “The sole purpose of the ambassadors, or ‘yellow jackets,’ is to ensure the well-being of USC students, faculty and staff as well as visitors to our campus.”
An Uber spokesperson said on Nov. 8 that Uber “do[es]n’t have any record of any safety ambassadors on campus” at USC and declined to comment on the reports of Uber coupons being handed out to students.
At the time of publication, Jersey Mike’s did not respond to requests for comment.
Multiple security ambassadors said they weren’t aware some of their colleagues were handing out coupons.
“I’m surprised that any of them would,” said one security ambassador, who was given anonymity because of a company policy against speaking to the media.
Another security ambassador, who was also granted anonymity for the same reasons, didn’t understand what connection there could be between Allied Universal and the coupons.
“We’re a separate company. We’re just a security company,” the security ambassador said. “All we do is man the gates, and that’s it. No coupon giveaways or anything like that.”
Harrison Weinberg, a sophomore majoring in communication, said he didn’t previously know that some security ambassadors were handing out coupons and that it was “surprising” to him.
“We trust the Yellow Jackets to protect us and to serve the students, so to hear that they have other agendas they’re following or other things they might be doing — that is concerning, to say the least,” Weinberg said.
Aiden Lim, a freshman majoring in themed entertainment, said it’s “fine” for security ambassadors to hand out coupons if they still managed their responsibilities for their job, but felt that it could interfere with their effectiveness.
“The purpose of the ‘Yellow Jackets’ is for safety … but if you’re doing something else, people would not see their role,” Lim said. “They might just mistake them for someone else or something like that.”
Weinberg said security ambassadors had recently seemed more outgoing when he entered campus, and knowing that some of them were handing out coupons to students was making him question their friendliness a bit.
“There’s so much talk that they are our first line of defense on campus, essentially,” Weinberg said. “To hear that they might have other people they might be serving — I don’t know, I guess that’s not the best thing to hear.”
