site and content aggregator in the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. It is a web-only publication that was created in 2009. It does not cover campus news. The Sack of Troy is an online

The Daily Trojan has been the student newspaper of USC since 1912 and is a primary source of news and information for the campus. It secured the first interview of President Richard Nixon after his resignation. The publication does not receive financial aid from the university and instead runs entirely on advertisement revenue. Published from Monday to Friday during the fall and spring semesters, the newspaper turns into the Summer Trojan during the summer term and publishes once a week. It is the paper of record on campus.
Trojan Vision (often abbreviated as TV8) is the Student television station at USC. TV8 was established in 1997 by the Annenberg School for Communication, but is now a part of the School of Cinematic Arts. Trojan Vision broadcasts 24/7 from the Robert Zemeckis Center for Digital Arts to the University Park Campus on Channel 8.1 and online through their website. Programming is also made available to the greater Los Angeles community on local channel LA36. In addition to a selection of regularly airing shows of many genres, Trojan Vision also broadcasts the shows Platforum, a round-table debate show; Annenberg TV News, a news program; and CU@USC, an interview program, live every weeknight from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm.[141]
El Rodeo is USC's student-run yearbook. One of the oldest student traditions at the university, the first edition was released in 1889 and was originally called The Sybil. The name was changed to El Rodeo in 1899 to reflect the cowboy-themed events students threw to advertise the yearbook as a "roundup" of the year's events. It was long packaged with the Student Activity Card, which gave students access to all home sports games. Since the card was dissolved in 2007, the yearbook has been sold as a stand-alone item.[142]
Neon Tommy is a news website and content aggregator in the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. It is a web-only publication that was created in 2009. It does not cover campus news.
The Sack of Troy is an online news satire publication. It was started by USC students and is independently run.
Greek life[edit]
The Greek Community, making up approximately a fifth of the student body, has had a long and influential history on the campus. Centered on a portion of West 28th Street known as "The Row", located between Figueroa Street and Hoover Street just north of campus, USC's Greek system began soon after the school's founding when Kappa Alpha Theta founded a chapter in 1887.
With 23 fraternities and 11 sororities in the Interfraternity Conference (IFC) and Panhellenic Conference (PHC), respectively, the USC Greek community has over 2,650 members and is one of the largest on the West Coast. It regularly participates in Homecoming and Songfest, and the community's philanthropic efforts and success in philanthropic leadership annually raise over $150,000.
Outside of the Panhellenic and Interfraternity conferences, the Greek community at USC is very diverse, boasting the Multicultural, Asian, Inter-Fraternity (composed of professional fraternities), and the National Pan-Hellenic (historically black) Councils. Organizations governed by these councils include chapters of some of the oldest Latino and Black Greek organizations in the country and the oldest Asian fraternity in Southern California; while also including established professional business, engineering, and pre-law fraternities and other multiculturally based groups.
Popular media[edit]



Fountain outside of Doheny Library with the Von KleinSm

and performed live on America's Funniest Home Videos.[128] Additionally, the band later played on

 is a bronze statue in the model of a Trojan warrior at the center of campus. It is commonly mistaken as the school's official mascot. The statue was modeled after Trojan football players, and the statue is engraved with the ideal characteristics of a Trojan. It is a popular meeting point for students and a landmark for visitors.
In the 1940s, George Tirebiter, a car-chasing dog, was the most popular unofficial mascot. After it bit the mascot of the UCLA Bruins, it gained fame among students. The dog was known to chase down cars on Trousdale Parkway, which runs through campus. After the original dog died, a few others succeeded it. A statue was built in 2006 to honor the unofficial mascot.
Marching band[edit]


The drum major of the Spirit of Troy wears a more elaborate uniform and conducts the band with a sword.
USC's marching band, known as The Spirit of Troy, has been featured in at least 10 major movies, and has performed in both the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.[127] They have also performed on television shows and with other musicians.
The band performed on the title track of the 1979 Fleetwood Mac album Tusk, which went on to be a multi-platinum record. In 1990, the band performed live on America's Funniest Home Videos.[128] Additionally, the band later played on another multi-platinum Fleetwood Mac album, The Dance (1997).[129] The Spirit of Troy is the only collegiate band to have two platinum records.[130][131] In recent years, the band has appeared at the 2009 Grammy Awards, accompanying Radiohead; on the 2009 Academy Awards with Beyoncé Knowles and Hugh Jackman; and during the finale of American Idol 2008, backing Renaldo Lapuz in instrumentation of his original song "We're Brothers Forever."[132][133][134] In 2009, the band played on the show Dancing With the Stars.[135]
The USC band was only one of two American groups invited to march in the Hong Kong Chinese New Year parade in 2003 and 2004. The Trojan Marching Band performed at the 2005 World Expo in Nagoya, Japan. In May 2006, the Trojan Marching Band traveled to Italy, performing once in Florence, and twice in Rome (including in front of the Coliseum). The band has also, for many years, performed the 1812 Overture with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (or occasionally with other orchestras) each year at the Hollywood Bowl "Tchaikovsky Spectacular".[136]
Spirit groups[edit]


The Song Girls celebrating a USC Trojans football victory
Founded in 1967, the USC Song Girls appear at all football, basketball, and volleyball games as well as rallies, university and alumni functions.[137] Unlike other college cheer teams, Song Girls are primarily a dance squad and do not perform gymnastics, stunts or lead cheers.[138] Founded in 1919, the USC Yell Leaders worked closely with The Spirit of Troy (USC Band) and the Song Girls to lead cheers and perform stunts to rally Trojan fans at football, basketball, and volleyball games. The sweater-clad team consisted of all men for most of its existence, though the squad later opened itself up to applicants from both sexes and did feature one female Yell Leader in 1998.[139] They were disbanded by the University after the 2005–06 season and replaced by the co-ed Spirit Leaders.[140]
Student media[edit]

town rival is UCLA, with whom there is fierce athletic and scholastic competition. Both are within L.A. city limits, approximately 10 miles (16 km) apart. Until 1982 the two schools also shared the same football

01–02). And Trojan women have won 8 Honda Awards, as the top female athlete in their sport.
The Women of Troy have won 7 championships in tennis, 6 in volleyball, 3 in water polo, 2 in golf, 2 in basketball, 1 in swimming and diving, 1 in track and field, and 1 in soccer.
Traditions and student activities[edit]



USC mascot Traveler with Trojan Warrior and The Spirit of Troy
As one of the oldest universities in California, the University of Southern California has a long and storied history resulting in a number of modern traditions, some of which are outlined here:
USC's official fight song is "Fight On", which was composed in 1922 by USC dental student Milo Sweet (with lyrics by Sweet and Glen Grant).
Rivalries[edit]


During the week prior to the traditional USC-UCLA rivalry football game, the Tommy Trojan statue is covered to prevent UCLA vandalism.
Main articles: Notre Dame – USC rivalry and UCLA–USC rivalry
USC has rivalries with multiple schools. Though generally limited to football, USC has a major rivalry with Notre Dame. The annual game is played for the Jeweled Shillelagh. The rivalry has featured more national championship teams, Heisman trophy winners, All-Americans, and future NFL hall-of-famers than any other collegiate match-up. The two schools have kept the annual game on their schedules since 1926 (except 1942–44 because of World War II travel restrictions) and the game is often referred to as the greatest intersectional rivalry in college football.[120][121][122][123][124]
USC's cross-town rival is UCLA, with whom there is fierce athletic and scholastic competition. Both are within L.A. city limits, approximately 10 miles (16 km) apart. Until 1982 the two schools also shared the same football stadium, the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The victor of the annual football game takes home the Victory Bell. The Trojans and Bruins also compete in a year-long all-sports competition for the Lexus Gauntlet Trophy. Pranks between UCLA and USC were commonplace several decades ago. Both universities have cracked down on pranks since a 1989 incident when USC students released hundreds of crickets into the main UCLA library during finals week.[125] Days before a clash between rivals UCLA and USC in 2009, the Bruins mascot was vandalized. It was splashed in cardinal and gold paint, USC's official colors sparking memories of pranks played in the years earlier.[126] The week preceding the annual football matchup with UCLA is known as "Troy Week" and features a number of traditions including CONQUEST! "The Ultimate Trojan Experience", Save Tommy Night, the CONQUEST! Bonfire, and all-night vigils by the Trojan Knights to protect the campus from UCLA Bruins.
In addition, USC has rivalries with other Pac-12 schools, particularly Stanford as they are the only two private universities in the conference and are situated at opposing regions of California, as well as being the two oldest private research universities in California, 1880 and 1891 respectively. Recently, a rivalry has begun to exist between USC and the University of Oregon because of the two universities' dominant football programs, with each school often serving as the toughest match-up on the opponent's schedule.
Mascots[edit]
Traveler, a white Andalusian horse, is currently the university's official mascot. It first appeared at a football game in 1961, and was known as Traveler I. The current horse is known as Traveler VII.
Tommy Trojan, officially known as the Trojan Shrine,