USC Annenberg Media

USC Annenberg Media We provide the USC community with news that matters to them in thoughtful, deliberate, user-friendly

We’re USC's student-led multiplatform news outlet that keeps you current on the news and topics young adults care about. From Twitter to WeChat, our innovative newsroom runs on many platforms to keep you connected and up to date. Twitter: twitter.com/annenbergmedia
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Student workers at Doheny Memorial Library say they were told to stay in the building amid a bomb threat evacuation on S...
09/09/2025

Student workers at Doheny Memorial Library say they were told to stay in the building amid a bomb threat evacuation on Sunday. They are among the many students who were in Leavey and Doheny Memorial Library when the threat was first announced at 2:45 p.m. Sunday.

Department of Public Safety (DPS) Assistant Chief David Carlisle said that senior administrators on the library’s staff were “well-informed” of the situation and knew of the bomb threat.

The threat resulted in a complete evacuation and closure of both libraries. Students inside were told to leave the building and “stay away from the area,” according to an email notification from TrojansAlert.

Read more at the link in bio.

✍ Tamara Almoayed, Katie Simons, Sophie Sullivan
📸 Ada Li

The USC Dornsife Office of Experiential and Applied Learning (ExL) is being shut down, according to Emily Hodgson Anders...
09/08/2025

The USC Dornsife Office of Experiential and Applied Learning (ExL) is being shut down, according to Emily Hodgson Anderson, the USC Dornsife College Dean of Undergraduate Education. However, the programs under ExL will continue.

It remains unclear where the various programs under ExL will be housed. A student who worked with programs under the office confirmed to Annenberg Media that Associate Dean for Experiential Learning Dean Tammara Anderson and ExL Innovation and Implementation Manager Amber Harris have been laid off.

This is a developing news story.

The USC Dornsife Office of Experiential and Applied Learning (ExL) is being shut down, according to Emily Hodgson Anders...
09/08/2025

The USC Dornsife Office of Experiential and Applied Learning (ExL) is being shut down, according to Emily Hodgson Anderson, the USC Dornsife College Dean of Undergraduate Education. However, the programs under ExL will continue.

It remains unclear where the various programs under ExL will be housed or whether there will be staff impacts.

This is a developing news story.

Beginning in the 2026 enrollment period, USC employees will no longer be able to enroll in Anthem MyChoice HMO and Anthe...
09/03/2025

Beginning in the 2026 enrollment period, USC employees will no longer be able to enroll in Anthem MyChoice HMO and Anthem HMO healthcare plans, according to a memo shared by Campus Health on Aug. 26.

Employees already enrolled in Kaiser Permanente HMO plans will have the option to renew their existing healthcare plan. However, all other USC employees eligible for healthcare benefits will only have USC Trojan Care EPO or PPO plans as options for healthcare during the 2026 open enrollment period.

The USC Trojan Care EPO plan provides care through Keck Medicine of USC and will now include a two-tier benefit system, with “Tier 1” including all Keck Medicine of USC providers and practice locations, as well as access to local providers, and “Tier 2” granting access to select additional partner healthcare providers in the Anthem network.

“USC Health leaders and the Health Plans teams are very conscious that we must be exceptionally good stewards of your health plan dollars,” wrote Senior Vice President for Health Affairs Dr. Steven D. Shapiro and Vice President for Campus Health and Chief Campus Health Officer Dr. Sarah Van Orman, noting that the department’s goal is to provide employees with the “best prevention tools and health care services that move our communities continuously toward improved health outcomes.”

Read more at the link in our bio.

📝 Senna Ihab Omar
📸 Ling Luo

The Rossier School of Education laid off four faculty and 15 staff members this week in order to meet university-wide bu...
08/20/2025

The Rossier School of Education laid off four faculty and 15 staff members this week in order to meet university-wide budget cuts, Rossier Dean Pedro Noguera wrote in an email to the community Tuesday.

“These are very difficult decisions, and we understand how hard this news is for our community,” Noguera wrote. He also noted that the school’s priority was to “protect the work that defines us and ensure our students receive the best education possible.”

One of those laid off was Rossier’s sole career services specialist, leaving the college’s students with no point person to turn to on specific career advice.

Annenberg Media reviewed a message thread among Rossier students sharing the news of this week’s layoffs. A student working in career services wrote, “we are now without any Career Services Specialist,” and directed other students to visit the USC Career Center for help with resumes, cover letters and interview preparation.

The losses come as USC’s $200 million operating deficit has led to a series of mass layoffs, as announced by interim President Beong-Soo Kim in July. Since then, the Annenberg and Keck schools have announced layoffs, in addition to other departments across USC.

Rossier’s Career Services Office has not yet responded to requests for comment.

Read more at the link in bio.

✍️ Sophie Sullivan ( )
📸 Michael Melinger

Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Senator Dakota Driemeyer resigned from his position Monday morning to work on a p...
08/20/2025

Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Senator Dakota Driemeyer resigned from his position Monday morning to work on a political campaign in Illinois and will take a leave of absence from USC.

Driemeyer, who also served as president of USC College Republicans, told Annenberg Media he resigned primarily to work on the campaign but that a “variety of issues” contributed to his decision, including what he described as treatment by other USG members over Driemeyer’s political beliefs.

Driemeyer tendered his resignation just hours before the start of the annual USG retreat, speaker of the Senate Jeremiah Boisrond confirmed to Annenberg Media. In his resignation letter, Driemeyer said he would also be taking a leave of absence from USC to work “directly on the ground in Illinois” to “advance the Conservative movement.”

Driemeyer would not disclose which political campaign he was working on.

In his same resignation letter, Driemeyer said he saw the “tendency for political conformity to overshadow open dialogue” over his time in student government, and expressed a hope that USG will be “honest with itself.”

Boisrond said Driemeyer “hasn’t once expressed” these sentiments to the Senate. Prior to Monday, Driemeyer never communicated any intention to resign, Boisrond said.

His resignation leaves a vacant position in the Senate. USG will hold a special election in the coming weeks to fill the position, Boisrond said.

Read more at the link in bio.

✍️ Sophie Sullivan ( )

The USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism laid off 13 employees Monday, Dean Willow Bay told faculty and...
08/12/2025

The USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism laid off 13 employees Monday, Dean Willow Bay told faculty and staff in a meeting after employees were notified. The layoffs are to help meet the $6.5 million cut from Annenberg’s budget required by USC, Bay said.

Someone who attended the meeting and requested anonymity to be able to share details freely related to Annenberg Media what Bay told Annenberg faculty and staff.

Two of those laid off were faculty who were not reappointed. Three were laid off in the technical operations department, which hosts Annenberg’s technology equipment, supports classrooms and facilities and trains students in media production.

Other laid off employees were staff across the school’s departments and programs.

The layoffs come just days after the Keck school and healthcare system laid off 89 employees and are the beginning of many expected across the university this month. The cuts are in response to a $200 million operating deficit announced by interim President Beong-Soo Kim in July. At that time Kim warned of mass layoffs.

Bay said she took a “reduction in service” to lower her own salary, without providing details of her compensation. She also said the USC central administration took a 10% budget cut.

“The cuts are large, the cuts are deep and the human dimension is significant,” Bay told faculty and staff.

In addition, the USC Annenberg Center for Third Space Thinking will wind down after former Annenberg Dean Ernest J. Wilson III retires. The Center, founded in 2017, conducts research on “soft skills” and holds leadership development for young executives.

✍️ Sophie Sullivan ( )
📸 Chris Cheshire

In a time of financial uncertainty on campus, student health services are safe.Despite university and federal budget cut...
08/08/2025

In a time of financial uncertainty on campus, student health services are safe.

Despite university and federal budget cuts, and this week’s mass layoffs at the Keck healthcare system, USC Student Health won’t suffer, Chief Health Officer Dr. Sarah Van Orman confirmed on Friday. In an interview with Annenberg Media, Van Orman said there will be no changes in “access or staffing” at Student Health for the upcoming school year.

The mandatory, semesterly Student Health Fee includes specialized group therapy, embedded counseling and public health, sexual health, preventative care and more through the Engemann Student Health Center.

This week, USC Keck laid off 89 employees across its four hospitals and more than 100 clinics. 45 employees were terminated at Keck Hospital.

Also this summer, the Trump administration terminated the 988 Su***de & Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ Youth Specialized Services program, and just days later California Planned Parenthood lost all of its federal funding as a result of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”

“There’s a lot coming at people from multiple channels,” Van Orman said on the stress facing the campus community at the federal and local levels. “It is very overwhelming for individuals, including our faculty and staff who are still coming in to do the job that we need to do, and students who are coming here to do the job they need to do.”

Van Orman also noted habits that students may implement for better health during a “time of uncertainty,” including exercise, healthy eating habits, quality sleep and time with friends.

“Practice self-care, stay in the moment … reach out for help and assistance if you need it.”

Read more at the link in bio.

✍️ John Millsap
📸 Sareen Habeshian

This week, USC Keck Medicine and the Keck School of Medicine announced a mass layoff of 89 employees across all departme...
08/08/2025

This week, USC Keck Medicine and the Keck School of Medicine announced a mass layoff of 89 employees across all departments due to “workforce restructuring.”

Keck let go of 89 employees, according to state labor documents reviewed by Annenberg Media. 45 of those employees were laid off from Keck Hospital at the USC Health Sciences Campus. Keck officials confirmed that layoffs impacted the “entire health system,” including its four hospitals and more than 100 clinics across Southern California.

A notice of the layoffs was sent to the Keck Medicine and Keck School of Medicine community on Aug. 4, signed by Senior Vice President for Health Affairs Steven Shapiro, Keck Chief Executive Officer Rod Hanners, and Keck School of Medicine Dean Carolyn Meltzer.

When asked about whether layoffs would impact services offered at clinics, Keck did not specifically comment on whether there may be a delay in patient care or increased wait times for appointments, writing in an email:

“While the layoffs may impact the entire health system, these measures better position Keck Medicine to continue serving our community for years to come. We are committed to working with affected staff to help support this transition and ensure seamless patient care as we implement important changes over the coming weeks.”

While Tuesday’s memo said the healthcare system made its “best efforts” at reducing costs to avoid layoffs, Keck would not provide any specifics about what these efforts were, but that “Keck Medicine instituted cost saving measures months ago.”

Keck did not respond as to whether salary reductions of senior administrators were considered to avoid layoffs. According to ProPublica records, Shapiro made more than $3 million in 2024, Hanners more than $2.2 million and Meltzer more than $1.6 million.

This is a developing story. Read more at the link in bio.

✍️ Lizzy Liautaud and Sophie Sullivan
📸 Heather Mimikos

The namesake for the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance has died at 95.Kaufman is most known for shaping the careers of ...
08/07/2025

The namesake for the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance has died at 95.

Kaufman is most known for shaping the careers of young dancers. As a lifelong champion of dance she spent her lifetime donating to nonprofit organizations and preserving dance institutions in L.A.

Her grant in 2012 led to the founding of the Kaufman School of Dance. That same year she became a member of the Board of Trustees. Kaufman also donated $18 million to help UCLA renovate their dance building in 1999.

She wanted for dance to be accessible and was committed to helping less advantaged students gain access to programs in their communities. Through an endowment at Inner-City Arts in East L.A., she allowed thousands of kids access to take free dance classes each year.

Read more at the link in bio

✍️ Aditya Thiyag
📸 USC Photo/Greg Grudt

Headed back to campus soon? Feel free to leave your ID at home. Starting today, IDs will no longer be checked at campus ...
08/05/2025

Headed back to campus soon? Feel free to leave your ID at home. Starting today, IDs will no longer be checked at campus entrances between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.

After more than a year of enhanced security measures around campus and 24/7 ID checks, campus will re-open to the public for daytime entry, no prior registration necessary. IDs are still required from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., and all 11 campus entrances will remain staffed by security personnel.

Interim President Beong-Soo Kim said he wanted the campus to be “freer” to the surrounding community — but maintain the ability to quickly restore ID checks if deemed necessary.

“We’re going to have the security personnel at the entrances making sure that all of our rules are being followed,” Kim said in an interview with Annenberg Media. “We’re going to retain much of the physical infrastructure that we have so that if it’s needed for any reason, we can very quickly close the campus or require ID checks on a temporary basis.”

USC first instated ID checks and other security policies including bag checks, limited entrances, required visitor registration and metal fencing around campus during the pro-Palestinian encampment protests in April 2024. Nearly all have since been removed.

USC would not comment on how much these increased security measures cost. However, Kim emphasized the safety of the campus remains the No. 1 priority.

Read more at the link in bio.

✍️ Shruthi Narayanan
📸 Kate Stuzin

Wallis Annenberg, president and CEO of the Annenberg Foundation, died Monday morning after a battle with lung cancer. Th...
07/28/2025

Wallis Annenberg, president and CEO of the Annenberg Foundation, died Monday morning after a battle with lung cancer. The 86-year-old heiress to Walter Annenberg’s publishing empire dedicated her life to shaping Los Angeles with generous donations to various museums, universities and animal welfare causes.

USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism was originally founded by Wallis’s father in 1971. In 2011, Wallis donated $50 million to build Wallis Annenberg Hall, one of the school’s main buildings and the home of the Annenberg Media Center.

Wallis’s philanthropic impact is widespread across L.A. With her fortune, she established the Wallis Annenberg Building at the California Science Center in Exposition Park, the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, the Wallis Annenberg Community Beach House and the upcoming Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing in Agoura Hills.

In a statement to Annenberg Media, Dean Willow Bay said: “Courageous, thoughtful and exceedingly generous Wallis Annenberg was our champion, a lifelong advocate for the essential role communication and journalism play in advancing our society and sustaining our democracy. Every time I step into Annenberg Hall, I feel the power of her generous and trailblazing philanthropy, which has advanced an enduring mission of innovation and service to the world around us. Her legacy carries on in the many lives she touched and communities she nurtured. We are heartbroken by her passing and we will do our best to continue to make her proud.”

Wallis was awarded a National Humanities Medal by the White House in 2022 for her philanthropic work.

✍ Malcolm Caminero
📸 W***y Sanjuan/Invision/AP

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News the USC community cares about

We keep the USC community current on the news and topics that matter to them the most.

USC Annenberg Media is a student-run news organization at the University of Southern California. From social videos to Snapchat news shows and television broadcasts, our innovative converged newsroom runs on many platforms to keep the USC community informed and connected. Annenberg Media’s platforms provide the USC community with news that matters to them in thoughtful, deliberate, user-friendly formats. Twitter: twitter.com/annenbergmedia Instagram: instagram.com/annenbergmedia Twitch:USC_Annenberg_Media WeChat: @AnnenbergMedia YouTube: youtube.com/annenbergmedia Sports: twitter.com/AnnMediaSports Dímelo (News & media for Latino communities): facebook.com/justdimelo/ Intersections South L.A.: facebook.com/southla