Chuck Todd named as resident scholar in D.C.
The journalist said he wants to educate Washington, D.C. about California in his term.
By NICHOLAS CORRAL
The University named Chuck Todd as the inaugural scholar-in-residence at Capital Campus, USC’s campus in Washington D.C., Thursday morning. Todd will serve two years in the role, meaning he will continue to teach at the campus, work with campus leadership and host events.
Todd is currently the chief political analyst at NBC News and previously served as host of “Meet the Press” on the network. Todd will continue to work with the network during his time as the scholar-in-residence.
Todd said he took the position because he wanted to spend more time working on broader solutions to issues in the United States and because of a long-running interest in California’s influence and place in Washington, D.C.
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“I am certainly in another place personally when it comes to how much I want to be on air,” Todd said in an interview with campus media. “I want to be spending some time educating, as I’m doing here. I want to be spending some time trying to help to build and improve a new information ecosystem.”
The Capital Campus opened in April 2023, with President Carol Folt saying the goal of the campus was to better connect the school with the East Coast. Three classes are slated to be offered in Spring 2025 through the Dornsife in DC program.
Todd will teach a course at the Capital Campus titled “How Washington Really Works” — which he also taught in Spring 2024. He said that despite stereotypes about bias in academia, last year he saw bipartisan discussion in his time at the campus.
“I found the students that I interacted with to be tremendous,” Todd said. “I was impressed that I had a very bipartisan class, and what was great was the dialogue between the students.”
Todd said that during his time as a scholar-in-residence, he would focus on making the Capital Campus a center for Californians in the city. He said he wanted to work with many University schools while in Washington, D.C., imagining screening documentaries from the School of Cinematic Arts at the campus.
“What’s happening in California eventually makes its way east, just like the weather, culture, political trends, you name it,” Todd said. “So I just think that this is an opportunity to help educate Washington, [D.C.] about California. And I think the USC campus is well positioned to become basically the place for Californians to talk to Washington, [D.C.].”
Editor’s note: This article was updated at 10:53 p.m. with new information.
