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President’s Page

By C. L. Max Nikias

As we celebrate another holiday season, our thoughts invariably turn more gentle. We all become a little more compassionate, a little more caring, a little more generous. The warmth of our friends and families – and for each of us, our Trojan Family – nourishes us, and we begin to ask a simple but important question: How can we help others?

Each of us has our own answer to this question, but as members of the USC family, we don’t answer it alone. As Trojans, we are part of a much larger community that tackles this question every single day. After all, this is what USC and all great universities do: We better lives.

Consider our faculty. At the September kickoff celebration for the Campaign for the University of Southern California, three members of our faculty described their innovative, thought-provoking work. The audience burst into spontaneous applause as professor Mark Humayun demonstrated a retinal prosthesis that literally helps the blind to see. Professor Ange-Marie Hancock prompted us to consider public policy matters in a new light, having brought her intellectually engaged voice to issues of race, gender, class and sexuality politics. And professor Paul Debevec drew cheers as he showed how his work with image-based modeling translates to the silver screen, driving films such as Avatar. Their presentations reminded everyone in Bovard Auditorium of a simple fact: USC faculty advance thought and creativity in an array of important areas, all of which improve the quality of our lives.

But it’s not just our esteemed faculty. Consider our staff as well. Earlier this year, LA Weekly included Kim Thomas-Barrios in its “Best of L.A. People” issue. She oversees our Neighborhood Academic Initiative (NAI), and the piece highlighted NAI’s magnificent work in our neighboring communities. Readers could hear Thomas-Barrios’ voice as she challenged and inspired students, encouraging them in ways that will alter the entire course of their lives as well as their family’s lives.

Let’s also consider our students. In this issue, you’ll learn about Troy Camp, USC’s oldest, most active and most diverse philanthropy organization. Entirely student-run, Troy Camp brings 200 children from our surrounding neighborhoods to a weeklong summer camp. In the year that follows, student volunteers remain friends with the children, reaching out with a combination of get-togethers, fun trips and tutoring.

In that feature, you’ll also learn about alumnus Otis Healy, one of the project’s founding members, who has remained personally invested in its growth. For Healy, the question How can we help others? took firm root during his time at USC, and he has continued to ask this question in the intervening six decades. During that entire time, USC has helped him formulate the answer.

Healy brings me to another vast segment of the Trojan Family that remains dedicated to bettering lives: our remarkable alumni. I am always amazed by the contributions of our alumni and the deeply meaningful lives they lead. We could fill this entire magazine with their accomplishments and still only touch on a small fraction.

But here, I’d like to mention Lisa Barkett, president of the USC Alumni Association’s Board of Governors. She has chosen to focus her philanthropy, her volunteerism on her alma mater. She and her husband Bill are foot soldiers for USC, supporting USC’s entire mission. This includes the groundbreaking work of professors Humayun, Hancock and Debevec, the stellar work of Thomas-Barrios and the NAI, and the heartwarming mentoring of students at Troy Camp. In answering the question How can we help others? she summons her entire Trojan Family.

I want to close by saying this is a milestone holiday season for my family and me. Niki, our daughters and I have been at USC for 20 years now. Each year, we look forward to our warm exchanges with trustees, faculty, staff and alumni at our Thanksgiving dinner and holiday parties. All the while, we ask ourselves, How can we help others? and our focus always returns to USC. We want you to know that we are truly grateful for the support you give us, your fellow Trojans, and the far-reaching work of our beloved university.