USC removes cultural Living Learning Communities from website
All first-year LLCs related to race, ethnicity and LGBTQIA+ identities were affected.
By DAVID RENDON
USC’s freshman cultural Living Learning Communities are no longer listed on the USC Housing website. The LLCs affected include: the Asian, Pacific Islander, Desi American Leadership Community; El Sol y La Luna, which focused on Latine students; Somerville Place, which focused on Black students; Rainbow Floor, which focused on LGBTQ+ students; and Women in Science and Engineering.
In a statement to the Daily Trojan, the University wrote that it saw lower student interest in “some” of the LLCs this year.
“We [have] expanded our cultural programming to benefit all residents,” the statement read. “This more expansive approach will continue to provide residents with a strong sense of community, along with many shared experiences.”
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This year, El Sol y La Luna and Somerville Place, which are both in Pardee Tower, shared floors, when in years prior they were separated.
The Housing website now only includes the Annenberg Communications, First Generation Plus, Sophomore Honors, Gender-Inclusive and Sustainable Living LLCs. The website previously featured the Rainbow Floor as a gender-inclusive community located within Birnkrant.
These changes come amid attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion programs from President Donald Trump. Earlier this year, the Department of Education sent a letter threatening federal funding for institutions that consider race in aspects of student life, including housing. The compact sent by Trump that USC recently rejected proposed that Universities commit to “defining and otherwise interpreting ‘male,’ ‘female,’ ‘woman,’ and ‘man’ according to reproductive function and biological processes.”
“[LLCs] are open to all eligible individuals,” the Housing website reads. “All USC Housing and USC Residential Education programs and activities are operated consistent with the University’s Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor.”
The communities were listed on the housing website until at least Aug. 31, according to an online archive of the website.
In Fall 2024, the University discontinued several second-year LLCs located in Century Apartments. USC Residential Education wrote in an email to the Daily Trojan in June 2024 that it cut the programs due to “waning interest.”
This is a developing story.
