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The University of Southern California's big donors are generally staying even as USC administrators face significant criticism for how they've handled campus issues related to the war in Gaza.Many donors graduated from USC.
Recent interviews suggest how administrators handled pro-Palestine protests — including using police to clear encampment — have left a bad impression of the university on some students and families.When University of Southern California administrators canceled valedictorian Asna Tabassum’s commencement speech this spring, the stated explanation — safety reasons — left many students and faculty confused. How could a university with its own private security, access to LAPD assistance, and that only a year before hosted President Barack Obama for commencement, not protect a student? According to student journalists, in a call soon after with the university’s top administrators, faculty asked if perhaps the withdrawal of Tabassum’s speech — after she was criticized by pro-Israel activists —USC, like many other private universities, raises a lot of money. And as the faculty question alluded to, big university donors like to shape a university’s direction. But what is the relationship between donors and university policy? And how do those relationships change when the university draws widespread criticism? “My main reaction to questions about the role of donors is it's probably over-emphasized compared to its actual importance,” said John Matsusaka, a professor of business and law at USC. He worked at USC duringthat led to the exit of USC’s last president, C.L. Max Nikias. Those scandals rocked the confidence of big-money donors to the university. And while USC administrators faced withering scandals in the last decade, university officials’ most recent actions related to pro-Palestinian protestors — including the use of police to clear student encampments — do not appear to be rocking the support of big time donors.Two weeks after USC pulled its invitation for Tabassum to deliver a commencement speech, USC alumnus and benefactor Lloyd Greif — he has an academic center named after him —Other donors may simply tell their concerns to the staff members charged with raising money. “Development is collateral damage during scandals, I’ve experienced that,” said a former USC employee with knowledge of USC’s fundraising. The employee asked for anonymity for fear of repercussions. But donor reaction might be less about the original problem than it is about trust. That employee said one donor told them it’s not so much because of the scandals,"but because of the cover up, and other donors felt that way too.”There are all kinds of consequences — big and small — to administrative controversies.“I always want our university leadership to succeed,” said Devin Griffiths, a USC English and comparative literature professor who authored the censure resolution. Censure is a formal statement of rebuke against top leadership, but not a call to resign. “I'm not sure if I've entirely lost confidence with yet but … it's very hard for me to imagine what she can do at this point to really restore the confidence of the faculty and students,” he said.troubled Ange-Marie Hancock, then a professor of political science and gender studies at USC. She incorporated investigating university practices intoFor many universities, “There is a history more recently of donors withdrawing their financial support, should there be a decision that they disagree with,” said Hancock, who is now executive director of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State University, after 15 years at USC. The pro-Palestine encampment and university officials’ response to it at Columbia University have made the New York school an example of conflict over how to address protester demands.“I am no longer confident that Columbia can protect its students and staff, and I am not comfortable supporting the university until corrective action is taken,”In December, the University of Pennsylvania lost a $100 million donation and the following month, a big Harvard “mega donor”The biographies of Folt’s two predecessors underline the extraordinary amount of money the two presidents brought to USC. President Steven Sample’s bio listsUSC’s board of trustees hired Carol Folt in 2019 in part because she had navigated a major college sports scandal while president of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “ has never been a fundraiser and part of the deal with her coming to USC was that she wasn't going to be as vigorous a fundraiser as Sample and Max Nikias,” said emeritus USC education researcher William Tierney. It’s USC vice presidents, deans, the provost, and individual schools’ development officers that have the most interactions with big donors, according to the former USC employee. An LAist review of Internal Revenue Service filings, also provided by USC, show contributions — donations made outside of fundraising events, as well as non-governmental grants — declining over the past several years. Governmental grants have grown. The fundraising often brings relationships with funders that top administrators must cultivate and nurture. Hancock worries that students will suffer if donors pull out in response to a university crisis. “If you were to talk to most development or advancement professionals, they will tell you that … aside from big buildings and having your name on a building, doing student scholarships is one of the other major, major resources that private donors give to universities around the country,” she said.Many of USC’s top donors are former students who have gone on to become wealthy. Current students are still processing whether the administration’s actions will affect their view of the university after graduation. “They've made some poor decisions. Yes. But at the end of the day, it is a school that I genuinely love,” said undergrad Gabrielle Annon at a graduation celebration earlier in May.“The basic idea is that we're one family, that we stay connected together and that that relationship lasts over time,” said Griffiths, the professor of English and comparative literature at USC. “I think there are many students and faculty and members of the administration who take that to heart and feel it,” he said. In the weeks after USC administrators called on police to clear an encampment of pro-Palestine protesters, feelings among students for the university appeared to vary. “I still love the school, still a Trojan for life,” said undergrad Emma Adamson. She feels donating will be part of being a member of the Trojan Family after she graduates. “ depends my future, but hopefully if I do have enough money to donate, if it's going to the right places, I'd have to make sure of that,” she said. But not all have forgiven the university’s missteps in the last month of the school year — canceling the valedictorian’s speech, clearing out protesters, and adding security checkpoints. "It felt like collective punishment to everyone," said Anusha S, a USC graduate student who doesn’t go by her last name. She’s made up her mind about donations."I don't want my money to go to a college that didn't really give me the best experience." “I'm not a big donor but have always contributed to scholarships,” Viki Goto said via email to LAist. Goto said this is her reunion year as a USC alumnus and she won’t be attending. “I'm urging my fellow alumni to withhold their contributions until the University seriously addresses their many shortcomings in handling this situation,” she said. Griffiths, the professor, said he doesn’t embrace the culture of The Trojan Family."The thing I always tell people is, institutions don't love you,” he said. But, he added, “The people who work at those institutions really do care about you.”Adolfo Guzman-Lopez focuses on the stories of students trying to overcome academic and other challenges to stay in college — with the goal of creating a path to a better life.
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