HISTORY

A Night To Remember

Nearly 71 years ago to this day, there was a huge disturbance at USC as 2,000 students flooded the Row and caused mayhem.

  • They burned a car
  • They started several fires and burned street signs and couches
  • They turned on a fire hydrant
  • They vandalized police cars
  • One student rode a motorcycle down the Row and had his girl friend on the seat behind him spray water at police with a fire extinguisher

USC officials released a statement that attributed the disturbance to “spring fever.” That was a common explanation in those days when students massed and began to cause disturbances.

However, the students who tried to enter the Alpha Chi Omega sorority without permission faced discipline that would likely be “suspension or expulsion from the university.”

Here are some photos from May 5, 1953.

29 thoughts on “A Night To Remember”

  1. I just did a cursory investigation of what happened at SC on May 5, 1953 and came up with nothing. It can’t be that the Cinco de Mayo celebration got out of hand can it?

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  2. Nothing going on on a Friday afternoon so time to play out the 2024 schedule and guess the results-

    LSU loss

    Utah St win

    Mich loss

    Wisconsin win

    Minn win

    Penn St win

    Maryland win

    Rutgers win

    Washington loss

    Nebraska win

    Yucla loss

    Neuter Dame win

    That is an optimistic 8-4

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      1. I say we start a “Guess the Score” for LSU game…..

        #I’llStart….

        #USC24-LSU21

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  3. Were they chanting “Death to America.” How about “kill the Jews.” Anyone take down an American flag and hoist up a flag of a Muslim country. Don’t see a lot of hajabs in the picture. Did they occupy the school grounds, set up tents and vandalize the university. Make demands on the university to divest from Israel. Were any of these people outside agitators paid by Soros or the Rockefeller Foundation or the Ford Foundation or some other Marxist group. Did the faculty support the Marxist agitators. 

    In the 1950’s fraternities were known for pranks and occasional bad behavior. This is not a prank. Carol, re-think your DUI and other Marxist bullshit. And start admitting some hard working kids with legacies. Return USC to its former glory.

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    1. Carol, er President Folt, likes Chinese money and Middle East money, which is hilarious since neither place is very tolerant towards LGBTQ people and they would laugh at DEI

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    2. Plow,

      Nice job promoting the legacies! Hopefully they don’t remember how we’re always preaching about how everything should be based solely on merit.

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      1. Land Owner: You have a point. But how USC has determined merit over the past few years is questionable. Some of the legacies that are being turned away have excellent grades and test scores but their skin color doesn’t add to the desired campus diversity. Doesn’t a legacy add something worth while to the campus? Don’t you want students who grew up loving the USC traditions. If the legacies’ parents and grandparents have been active alumni who have donated hundreds of thousands to the university should that not be given some consideration? 

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Just reviewed the All-American teams (1st, 2nd and 3rd) for 2023 and every team SC plays lost their best men either to graduation or leaving early for the NFL

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      1. We lost the great QB who played for us in 2022—- the QB who played for us in 2023 combined unnecessary interceptions, sacks and fumbles…. with some brilliant runs and throws…………[bottom line] I think the days of the big play ….and the boneheaded mistakes….are behind us in 2024].

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    1. The excesses of the last week or so aren’t, strictly speaking, Carol’s fault. And even if they are, termination is overkill…..

      #…[ButIStillHopeItHappens]

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    1. It’s gonna take a while for LR to shake his national reputation as a finesse focused head coach. This reputation includes his minimizing all things trench guys and of course defense. Is it well deserved ? Well. Yes. Has he made substantial progress in coaches and strength/nutrition? Absolutely. 

      Much damage was done the last two years, including LR consistently dismissing there were issues with Grinch and others. Especially when we were watching Saturday afternoon cfb recaps whereas the big time HCs were close to blowing an artery chastising his players for not playing physical, tough, inspired football. Sometimes I think we Trojan fans are too close to the minutiae, forgetting what the nation saw consistently. OL’s and DL’s >4* are gonna be hesitant to come. NIL is probably the one factor that can course correct our deficits in the big boy positions. So far the coaching changes have been excellent. Hopefully Henson can come through in 2024. 

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      1. If Riley had Nike money backing him up then he’d have all the biggest players in the conference. Don’t get caught up in lazy narratives like “Riley doesn’t care about defense” when pay for play is the real reason USC is losing to schools like Auburn and Oregon which hasn’t had a first round defender picked in eight years in the NFL draft.

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      2. Sorry. All the money in the world wasn’t gonna get top players to play for Alex Grinch or Donte Williams…

        #…That’s100%OnRiley

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  9. Don’t follow it anymore, but I see the Lakers fired Darvin Ham. The Lakers seem to have an aging, non-competitive roster. Is Rob Pelinka still the GM? Does Jeannie Buss contribute anything? Bob Sugar anything!?

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  10. Derrick Harmon picked Oregon and the “choice” was made after April 30th to try and keep the other defensive linemen inside the program. The B1G needs to send a letter to this cheating school and inform them that roster stacking isn’t allowed in the conference. They should be forced to not have more than 95 players on their roster – it’s their own rule they created to keep schools from hiding players from other schools. Ridiculous.

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    • No sports going on, so that May 5, 1953 photo showing the SC Row burning and kids turning on cops is a page right out of our current 2024 affairs, except in 1953 there were no victims (maybe a cop or two), it was ‘kids blowing off steam’- Gads!

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  12. ‘Anarchy’ comes to mind, some people are wound so tight that they’re ready to fight in the street if it came to that

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  13. -And one wonders how this gang that attacked the Yucla “campers”, how it all came down-

    Hey Luigi, you owe me I got a problem, it’s about these trespassers down at Yucla the boss wants them out. You got any boys you can round up

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