USC Students Say Steve Sarkisian Got Off Too Easy

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In the wake of his actions at the Salute to Troy rally, students are demanding accountability from the administration. From the Los Angeles Times:
 
“I think it’s important to have some accountability,” Rainbolt said. “But I feel like football is a different thing. If football players do something wrong, it doesn’t really matter because sports are pretty big.”
 
Leonette Espina, 19, said it was ironic that a university seemingly strict about drinking would let its coach off so lightly. “I think the coach should be more responsible and be a good example to the students,” she said.
 
Head over to the Los Angeles Times for more.

Steve Sarkisian Will Seek Treatment in Wake of 'irresponsible' Conduct at USC Rally

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The Los Angeles Times reports:
 
“But then at the annual “Salute to Troy” pep rally, before a campus crowd of well-heeled donors, players and their parents, an apparently intoxicated Coach Steve Sarkisian slurred his words, insulted opposing teams and added an expletive to the school’s rallying cry, “Fight On!”
 
A video clip of his antics went viral. Suddenly, USC had a crisis on its hands. One of its highest-paid employees, the leader of its lucrative, face-of-the-university football program, had stumbled publicly, embarrassing himself and the school.”

The Dean of the USC Art School With Only One MFA Student Responds to Her Critics

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After weeks of turmoil at Roski, Dean Muhl sits down with the Los Angeles Times:
 
“Regarding the MFA itself, we consider the changes we’ve made to be pretty minor especially in the context of a two-year course of study. Some don’t feel that is so. But I feel that we’re crafting it in a way that is unique to USC and distinguishes it from its peers.”
 
Minor changes? That must be why the entire 2016 MFA class dropped out, and another 72 alumni penned an open letter criticizing the corporatization of Roski…

'Heartbroken': 72 USC Alumni Write in Support of Withdrawn MFA Students

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From The Los Angeles Times:
 
“As alumni of the University of Southern California Roski School of Art and Design’s Master of Fine Arts Program, we are dismayed to hear that Dean Erica Muhl’s actions and lack of support for the Program have caused the entire graduating class of 2016 to withdraw,” reads the letter, which was released via email and published on a Tumblr account linked to the students who withdrew. 
 
“This was an extraordinary and painful action for these graduate students to have taken, and presents evidence of serious wrongdoing and extensive problems in the School,” the letter continues. “We do not want to see this jewel of the University recklessly discarded, and neither should the President, Provost or the Board of Trustees of the University of Southern California.”
 
Read the whole story here.

Behind the Impasse That Led USC's 2016 MFA Students to Withdraw in Protest

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The Los Angeles times reports on the MFA class of 2016, who dropped in protest of faculty and curriculum changes at the school:
The master of fine arts students publicly posted a letter on the website Art & Education. “We are a group of seven artists who made the decision to attend USC Roski School of Art & Design’s MFA program based on faculty, curriculum, program structure and funding packages,” they wrote. “We are a group of seven artists who have been forced by the school’s dismantling of each of these elements, to dissolve our MFA candidacies.”
When our university prioritizes profits over student learning, we all suffer. Read the whole story here.