Tag Archive for: commencement

Achievement not an individual endeavor


Commencement is almost here. It’s a time to see family, take pictures and get nostalgic with your classmates. Of course, it’s also a time to be self-centered. Commencement ultimately exists to celebrate individual achievement. And, hey, if you’re managing to actually graduate — whether it’s in three years or six — you deserve to pat […]

Silence shouldn’t be option for Nikias


I have always felt it is hard to determine the value of a college football program. Unlike, say, for a professional baseball team, Forbes doesn’t annually list the monetary value of Florida, Texas or USC. There isn’t an established market price. There isn’t an exact figure that can be attached. There are a few things, however, […]

Commencement needs a female presence


1924 was a banner year for USC. The university held its first formal homecoming ceremony, inaugurated the first school of international relations in the country and, on a stifling Wednesday in June, gathered to hear its first female commencement speaker, Aurelia Henry Reinhardt,  give her remarks. It is doubtful that the woman once dubbed, with […]

Commencement speaker announced


The USC Office of Protocol and University Events has announced that Microsoft’s chief executive officer, Steven Ballmer, will issue the commencement address at this year’s commencement exercises. Commencement will take place on Friday, May 13, and an estimated 40,000 guests are expected to attend as 5,000 students receive their degrees. Ballmer will receive an honorary […]

USC misses chance for reparations


Last week, thousands of proud seniors braved the intense California sun and the earliest Friday morning wake-up call since their freshman year general education classes to participate in the university’s 127th annual commencement ceremony. Graduate students who received their postgraduate honors joined them. Also in attendance were five honorary degree recipients — William J. Bratton, […]