Daily Trojan Magazine

town square

Final verdicts on Trojan Hall, Marks Hall

July 22, 2023
(Brittany Shaw | Daily Trojan)
“Town Square” is a monthly installment where we collect responses and anecdotes from the USC community.
READ THE ARTICLE

USC begins demolishing Marks Hall, Trojan Hall

FROM THE ARCHIVES

December 4, 1953: President Fred D. Fagg Jr. hosts a dedication ceremony for Marks Hall, named after the Los Angeles businessman David X. Marks.

The residence hall was initially constructed as a men’s residence; Fagg later announced plans to add adjacent men’s and women’s residences in 1955. Trojan Hall was also built in the 1950s.

March 20, 1972: Dorms have changed since 30s

Following a revolutionary decade for civil rights, Damon Chun recaps the cultural advances made in decades past, and the challenges that were yet to be overcome.

Since at least June 15, USC has begun demolishing Trojan Hall and Marks Hall, the infamous — though perhaps less so than New North, which is somehow still intact — dorms that were closed since the coronavirus pandemic. Countless freshmen have walked the halls, terrorized the communal bathrooms, sweated profusely in rooms with no AC, contracted “mold induced asthma” — according to one commenter under an Instagram post we published to solicit responses for this story — and, in all that chaos, made friends along the way.

We’ve collected some anecdotes — edited for length and clarity — from former residents, whose memories of these dorms range from as recent as 2021 to decades old.

I lived in Trojan Hall, and the building wasn’t great but the people were fantastic. I’m still very close to a couple of the women from my floor, and I know we’ll be friends for life. I wouldn’t have wanted to live anywhere else freshman year. I think we were the last building on campus to have separate floors for men & women. If I remember correctly, the women on our floor lovingly referred to ourselves as “Tro Hoes,” and some of us had an all-girls skate gang that would ride around campus. Living above Ground Zero was also the best, although dangerous to be that close to custom milkshakes. 

Nikki David, 2014 graduate

The 4th floor of Marks Tower in 2021 was the place to be. Someone put up a flier outside the bathroom pretending to be management saying that shower drains were clogged with semen. [Similar satirical “masturbation notices” were posted at UC San Diego, the University of Miami and at least 24 other colleges in the United States.] Also, this guy got food poisoning and vomited blood in the bathroom stall and there was blood splatter on the door for the entire year — never got cleaned. As much as there were lots of nasty moments, our tiny floor had such a great community bonded by our experiences, and so many of us continue to be friends to this day.

Carlo Meglio, junior majoring in cognitive science

Trojan Hall was THE best part of my freshman year. The girl who ended up being my best friend for the past six years and counting lived right across the hall from me, and even after graduation we still keep in touch and hang out with a lot of the people who lived in that building. It’s sad to see Trojan Hall go because, even though it was super outdated, we all bonded over it and became close. I used to keep my door open all the time when I was in my room, and that’s how I ended up meeting a lot of my friends. A lot of my greatest USC memories happened in that building and some of my most treasured friendships formed there. I’ll always hold Trojan Hall close to my heart.

April Robles, 2021 graduate

Trending Posts

Got a story idea?

SUBMIT A TIP >>

ADVERTISEMENTS

Looking to advertise with us? Visit dailytrojan.com/ads.
April Robles (top row, third from left) poses for a photo with friends. (April Robles)

I lived in Trojan Hall (Room 352B) my freshman year in 1971-72. In those days, your room key had a square, red plastic tag attached to it with your room number printed on it. When going into the dining halls at Birnkrant [Residential College] or Marks Hall, there was a person who would check your tag to verify that you were on the meal plan. 

One of my good buddies, Roger Dhesi, wasn’t on the meal plan, so we bought a piece of plastic, cut it to the correct size and printed a fake room number on it. That hack got Roger numerous free meals in the cafeteria. [But] one of the checkers — a student we nicknamed “Killer” — was onto Roger’s hijinks, so he had to scout to see when she was working in order to get his free meal.

A bit of background: Roger was the bass drummer in the Trojan Marching Band, and is legendary for putting the “Boom” in “Ching-boom” that kicks off the beginning of “Fight On” in the TMB’s pre-game show. Sadly, he passed away three years ago.

After spending my freshman year in Trojan Hall, I was in the first group to move into the brand new Men’s Residence, which later became Fluor Tower. I’m sad to see that my first two dorms have been demolished. I spent my senior year in Webb Tower and am hoping it’s not next. 

Michael Runzler, 1975 graduate

I lived in Marks Hall for two years, as a freshman and sophomore, starting in 1999 (when you could still park on Hoover St. in front of the dorm). Like any dorm (sorry, “residential hall”), I remember having deep chats sitting in the hallway until 2 a.m., and gathering people for dinner or to go to breakfast at [Everybody’s Kitchen] on Saturdays. The unique parts came from the fact that it was the smaller of the two Dean’s Halls, with just one floor for men (2nd floor) and one for women (3rd floor), so everybody got to know everybody else in the entire building fairly well. We had a weird library down in the basement where we would alternate between studying and throwing parties. I think we even dragged some mattresses down there at some point so we could sleep (it was also air conditioned, unlike our rooms!). The southwest end could hear KSCR [the former name for KXSC, a student-run radio station] below us; the northwest side could hear the occasional alumni gathering at the Alumni House in front; the southeast side could hear Ground Zero.

The 2nd floor on the northwest side had a ledge that ran the length of the building, and there were many times that a guy got locked out of his room, so we would climb up and get in through the window.

I remember a Dean’s Halls-wide game of Assassins, as well as a Valentine’s Day matchmaker. It’s all fuzzy these days, but I do remember it truly being a blast those two years, and I’m still close with lots of people from both years. I’ll cherish those memories always. ❋

Jason Scott, 2003 graduate

Marks Hall, 1999. (Jason Scott)
© University of Southern California/Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.