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Carol Folt Apologizes For Racism Experienced At USC

USC president Carol Folt sent out a letter tonight addressing the “Black at USC” Instagram I wrote about this morning.

Folt: “I am deeply moved and saddened by the many devastating stories and experiences of anti-Black racism at USC that our students and alumni are posting. It takes great courage and strength to share these stories publicly, and as President, I apologize for the pain you have suffered here.”

Here is the statement below:

USC Office of the President
June 30, 2020


Dear Trojan Community,

I am deeply moved and saddened by the many devastating stories and experiences of anti-Black racism at USC that our students and alumni are posting. It takes great courage and strength to share these stories publicly, and as President, I apologize for the pain you have suffered here. 

I promise to keep listening to you, and to commit not just myself, but USC, to making lasting change to put an end to anti-Black and systemic racism. 

Today, I am announcing new, additional actions to be led by Provost Professor Shaun Harper and researchers from the USC Race and Equity Center, in collaboration with Provost Charles Zukoski; our Senior Vice President for Human Resources, Felicia Washington; and our Vice President for Student Affairs, Winston Crisp. 

These actions will supplement other ongoing initiatives, including the development of unconscious bias training and the work of the Campus Culture Commission, as well as partnering with the diversity liaisons and the schools and units across USC.  Interviews and community recommendations: Over the next four months, the USC Race and Equity Center will hold focus group interviews with Black students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Our aim is to hear more about racialized experiences from Black members of the Trojan Family. We will see their findings and recommendations by mid-fall semester.Public forums: There will be five public forums this fall and spring, one each for Black undergraduates, Black graduate students, Black staff, Black faculty, and Black alumni. They will be supplemented by panelists and audience participation.Surveys of our entire community: We will use the highly-regarded quantitative National Assessment of Collegiate Campus Climates (NACCC), designed by the USC Race and Equity Center, to hear from all USC undergraduates this fall. Since our campus participated in the earliest pilot of the NACCC three years ago, it has developed, and has been used to survey over 500,000 students across the United States. In 2021, there will be racial climate surveys for all USC faculty and staff. We need to know how every racial/ethnic group uniquely experiences our campus climate.Multi-year professional learning opportunities: The USC Race and Equity Center will provide no-cost, multiyear professional learning experiences focused on equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) for USC employees. Each month, the Center will offer live, synchronous sessions through a virtual platform, accommodating up to 10,000 employees at once. Within two hours, we will post videos from each live session to a password-protected website that will be permanently available to all USC employees. Readings and other resources will accompany the videos. The sessions in the first year will focus on aspects of racial equity. Other EDI topics will be covered in later years.We know that it is easy to say we are going to change, and that actions will fail unless they are strategic, realistic, committed, and tenacious, with ongoing learning, broad participation, and modification to meet the goals.

Dismantling racism is the responsibility of our time, and I am honored to walk this path with you. 

Sincerely,
Carol Folt signature
Carol L. Folt
President

cc:
President’s Senior Leadership Team
Academic Deans
Provost’s Leadership Team
Academic Senate
Staff Assembly
GSG President
USG President
 
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIAUniversity Park • Los Angeles, CA 90089-0012 • Tel: 213 740-2111 • president@usc.edu

44 thoughts on “Carol Folt Apologizes For Racism Experienced At USC”

  1. I don’t believe she ever addressed the families and victims of that monster, Tyndall? Or the families of the 9 students who were suicide victims last year? Hope I am wrong and that she did indeed speak out.

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    1. Carol is a 24 k phony —- do you think she spends 2 seconds saying prayers for the many black kids who’ve died this year? Do you think she even remembers the names beneath the photos of the beautiful kids who died in shootings over the last 3 days….or the names of their grieving mothers?
      #SpareUsYourEmptyWords,Carol

      Liked by 5 people

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      1. Michael, we all wanted to give her many benefits of the doubt. But her decisions aren’t those of a leader, irrespective of her priorities. She has jumped on Caruso’s bandwagon, with plenty of platitudes for the nutty politics of the day.

        Liked by 3 people

      3. 67 —So many manifestos written by so many corporate and university presidents over the last 3 weeks…..& they all sound the same: Empty.
        #SayingBeautifulWordsYou’veNEVERSaidBefore….
        #….WhatAMarvelousWayToProveCowardice….

        Liked by 3 people

      4. What Carol Burnett and the other cowardly university presidents like ruin Chancellor Blockhead are doing are buying protection from the Peaceful Moderate Democrat Rioters.

        Liked by 3 people

      5. You are the biggest phony of them all with your right wing bullshit.
        Another piece of shit lawyer talking nonsense and now so concerned.

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      6. Poor s-head is triggered. You better get your camel comfort animal and find a safe place, you stupid preachy Scott Wolf stalking libtard.

        Liked by 3 people

      7. gt —It’s time for “S minus” to write his own “Ineffable Manifesto”….
        #InFact,ThereShouldBeAn”IneffableManifesto”Contest…
        #[RightNowCarusoHoldsASlimLead]…

        Liked by 2 people

    3. 67 — Carol wrote a letter. Big deal. Mike Caruso took out a $100,000 ad in the Times…..
      #Ergo,He’sHolier…
      #[$100,000Holier]…..

      Liked by 1 person

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  2. I actually had access to this story before Scott Wolf, because I’m the real USC insider. I’m so freaking jealous, because I want Wolf’s job, dammit !! 😡😡

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  3. You’re already the Moderator and you write more in one hour than Scott writes in a week, senileobama aka TulsaTrojan aka s-head aka USC Fan Boy.

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    1. The Moderator aka USC Fan Boy writes more in one hour than Scott writes in a week, sensational! What a great guy 👏👏👏

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      1. So funny watching the Democrat hypocrites support Black Lives Matter as long as they stay out of their exclusive neighborhoods…maybe Carol Folt can invite some Black Lives Matter activists to live in her $8.4 million mansion in Santa Monica.

        Liked by 3 people

    2. Hey those protesters aren’t wearing masks. What’s up with that. Guess only individuals who don’t protest spread the Wuhan virus. Weird…

      Liked by 4 people

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      1. Hey those protesters aren’t wearing masks. What’s up with that. Guess only individuals who don’t protest spread the Virus. I wonder if I can spread it by playing with my wife’s Nutts? Hmm 🤔 I hope not, because I won’t have anybody to play swords with 😡😡.

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      3. Hey those protesters aren’t wearing masks. What’s up with that. Guess only individuals who don’t protest spread the Virus. I wonder if I can spread it by playing with my wife’s Nutts? Hmm 🤔 I hope not, because I won’t have anybody to play swords with 😡😡.

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      4. The Dumbocrat insanity continues with the LA City Council voting to get rid of the LAPD…. I’m sure all the council members and mayor will get private security….

        Liked by 2 people

      5. It’s a good thing that I blocked all the people who keep impersonating me, because I was getting ready to tell my mommy, and Scott Wolf 😭😭😭🍼🍼.

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      6. Here’s a girl senileobama, Owns, s-head and Clay Russell should make a Love Connection with:

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      7. The Republicans insanity continues with the LA City Council voting to get rid of the LAPD…. I’m sure all the council members and mayor will get private security, unless Trump gives them Kung Fu lessons 😂😂😂😂

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      8. You Peaceful Moderate Democrats are at least honest about your intentions for America:

        Like

  4. USC, its alumni, faculty, administration and especially its sports fans are more racist than the trumpsters living off the government in the deep south red states.

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  5. It’s a good thing that I blocked all the people who keep impersonating me, because I was getting ready to tell my mommy, and Scott Wolf 😭😭😭🍼🍼.

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  6. As an alum and fan, I would like to know specifically what types of racism these students has experienced at USC. I think we are owed a legitimate explanation, and leave the name of Traveler out of it because it was the name of Robert E. Lee’s horse. Playing the victim is the easiest thing a person can do, and it seems as if some of these students are doing it for the sake of being with the “in crowd”. Furthermore, this statement by President Folt is a charade and an attempt to placate the BLM and SJW crowd. It comes across as about as disingenuous as anything some half-ass politician can spew. Lastly, to all these student-athletes of color that feel oppressed at USC, unless you can cite specific examples of you being treated in a racist manner, then you need to shut your mouth because your act is getting old.

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    2. Folt also needs to provide examples of what she means by “systemic racism” at USC. Is there a policy wherein qualified black students are denied admission in favor of less qualified white kids? Is there a policy wherein black kids are denied student housing or scholarship money? Is USC refusing to hire qualified black teachers in favor of less qualified white teachers. Clearly, this is not the case but Folt will send out a letter that states that USC is a systemically racist organization.

      Liked by 2 people

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      1. You’re right, Plow Horse —“The 1st Ineffable Manifesto” wasn’t perfect.
        Fortunately, we can count on Carol to pen more….
        #Coming:”The1stAmendedIneffableManifesto”…..
        #ThereWereSeveral”Continuations”ToChretien’s “Perceval”…
        #[..EachTimeHeGotCloserTotheGrail]…

        Liked by 1 person

  7. This blog is a Santa Claus killer for sure. The USC football program is like the proverbial tip of the iceberg, and I admit to willfully ignoring the great mass of USC beneath the water’s surface. It’s easy and comfortable to get the misperception of inclusion and equity by just looking at the football team. Like that proverbial iceberg, it seems USC is subject to fissures, cracking, calving and rolling at any time. USC IS that grain of sand in which we can see the world and naturally, the picture isn’t pretty. *sigh*

    I’d be remiss if I didn’t comment on this post, and I would say that I appreciate the fact that USC has leadership that acknowledges a problem and is being open-minded and curious about it. I think it’s also important that progress is recognized and acknowledged when it occurs. From the outside looking in, it seems to me that the new leadership implementing the policy with regard to income levels and waived tuition is progress. I think the fact that USC went outside for new leadership represents progress in and of itself. Also, I won’t delve too deeply into this, but the fact that USC has made this change to its alumni affiliations is an insightful little chess move and a step in the right direction (maybe more on that at some point but I doubt it).

    With that said, if I was a black student at USC, I would spread the discomfort. Most entities are struggling with uncertainty right now and many times that is worse than the actual things they fear. If I was looking for change, I wouldn’t want to lose this moment. What I would do is look for leverage and pressure points at USC. Where do black students have the most leverage at USC? The Athletic Deptartment. Who are the most powerful black alumni at USC? The former athletes. Where would USC feel the most pressure? From potential future atheletes. I would use this moment to reach out to (especially football and basketball) recruits to try and start a movement that makes meeting with the black student leaders on college campuses to discuss black lives on those campuses a mandatory part of any recruiting process. These recruits have a different experience than you do and you kind of have to pull their heads out of the clouds a little bit. These guys have older, wealthy, successful, white men basically carrying flowers and candy, chasing after them constantly. They have the leverage you are looking for. If they make you a part of their process, it will force the school to pay attention to you and make you more a part of their process. I don’t use social media and I would leave it to you guys to make the most of that in this effort. Like Angela Davis said, we gotta use what we have to get what we want. (With the invocation of Angela Davis, I don’t expect to hear from any Conservatives because their heads have now exploded. I could be wrong about that…)

    Lastly, I would tell these students to make sure that they are picking the right leaders for the right reasons. The American way holds that the person who wants the job the most is the best person for it, but that’s not true. The loudest person in the room is rarely the best person for the job of leadership. Rather than being moved by ambition, choose people who are moved by a sense of responsibility and genuine caring. You’d be surprised at how many of these people are actually laying in the cut rather than out front, as still waters run deep.

    Give these folks credit when it’s due, but stay on that ass for sure. Good luck.

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    1. I understand what you’re saying, but let’s not pretend (like I have for a long time) that there isn’t a more acute issue at USC than say…IDK…UCLA. I keep digging this hole deeper, I know…

      In a broad sense, however, you’re right. Their problem isn’t because their colors are cardinal and gold, their problem is because their colors are red, white, blue and black.

      Liked by 1 person

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  9. “…Holding back the years
    Chance for me to escape from all I’ve known
    Holding back the tears
    Cause nothing here has grown
    I’ve wasted all my tears
    Wasted all those years
    And nothing had the chance to be good
    Nothing ever could yeah, oh, well

    I’ll keep holding on
    I’ll keep holding on
    I’ll keep holding on
    I’ll keep holding on
    So tight…”

    -Mick Hucknall

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  10. First I am not white, my skin color is pink the color of a person’s skin isn’t the issue. Just because I lack the pigmentations to darken my skin does not make mistrust those fortunate enough to have been born with it. I tell my students “yes I am racist, I expect my students to act like members of the human race.”
    Morgan Freeman said it best, “I’ll stop calling you white when you stop calling me black.”
    That fans, students and alumni have been posting racist and hateful speech in social media should be troubling to anyone who thinks. That the president of the school is bothered by it is fine with me. Ask yourself if you want USC to be an instrument of character change or an instrument of status quo? If you want to change look in the mirror first, the person looking back at you is the only person you can change.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Be careful you don’t end up wearing one of those libtards you were talking about some Friday night.

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