C.L. Max Nikias became the 11th President of the University of Southern California Tuesday, hoping to continue the school’s upward spiral despite athletic turmoil.
While no official announcement is scheduled, Nikias does begin his presidential duties. He will be formally welcomed at a presidential inauguration Oct. 15.
The change comes with USC at the height of its own glory. Under President Steven Sample, USC shot into the top 30 elite universities, according to U.S. News and World Report, and shattered fundraising records to help build up campus buildings and programs.
USC is currently ranked the No. 26 best school in the U.S. — among the best private universities in the West, behind just Stanford and California Institute of Technology — and is already one of the most selective universities in the world.
The fall will see the completion of the massive all-in-one Campus Center at the heart of campus, a new unparalleled student housing facility on Figueroa Street and Jefferson Blvd. and the second state-of-the-art addition to the School of Cinematic Arts — a “mini-Hollywood” of animation labs and sound stages, part of director George Lucas’ $175-million donation to the school.
Nikias, one of about 75 candidates reviewed by a committee of trustees and senior faculty between November 2009 and March 2010, hopes to build upon that reputation, but will have a tough road ahead, with the start of his tenure coming in the middle of USC’s biggest athletic scandal to date.
At the beginning of the summer, the athletics department was certain the NCAA would hand down the results of it’s four-year investigation into the program’s alleged impropriety, specifically involving gifts NFL star Reggie Bush and NBA standout O.J. Mayo received while playing at USC.
To make matters worse, before the summer began, Pete Carroll, who had coached the Trojans from 2002 until last season, unexpectedly took a job as coach of the Seattle Seahawks, taking some of his coaches with him. Athletic Director Mike Garrett wasted no time in hiring back controversial University of Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin, who had coached under Carroll during USC’s 2000s dominance.
In June the NCAA finally struck, and struck hard, banning USC football for two seasons from bowl games — one of the largest sources of school revenue — and slapping the football roster with a penalty of 15 scholarships for two years, effectively shrinking the team from 86 to 71 players.
In the weeks that followed, a number of top-ranked and high-profile athletes opted for transfer, with D.J. Shoemate, Malik Jackson, Byron Moore, Jordan Campbell and Jarvis Jones all moving on to play elsewhere.
On July 20, Nikias made his first lengthy statement, announcing the resignation of Garrett and the hiring of former Trojan quarterback Pat Haden to fill the role of AD.
“USC will move forward, guided by the best withing our athletic and academic heritage,” Nikias said in the statement, which also announced that USC would remove Bush’s 2004 Heisman Memorial Trophy from Heritage Hall and return it to the Heisman Trust, in a move that drew criticism from some USC fans.
“I have instructed the senior vice president for administration to remove athletic jerseys and murals displayed in recognition of O.J. Mayo and Reggie Bush by mid-August — before the incoming class of students moves on campus — from Heritage Hall, the Galen Center, and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.”
But Nikias wasted no time spelling out the rules of a new Trojan era.
“Our Trojan student-athletes are indeed student first and foremost; thus the USC experience must ensure that they are nourished by and beholden to the noblest values of the academy and of society,” he said.
And while the upward climb won’t be an easy one, Nikias already appears more than ready to challenge USC to new academic and athletic heights come semester’s start.
