The Beacon Project

The Beacon Project is a student journalism initiative supported by the University of Southern California Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism to report on USC. It is independent of the university’s administration.
Lack of urgency, coordination has sidelined Los Angeles’ HHH program
After four years, the city has little to show for the endeavor, while homelessness continues to rise.
  • Chandler France
  • February 12
‘They watch us closely’: Black students describe patterns of racial profiling at the hands of USC’s DPS
Black students and alumni recount stories of their ID cards being checked or parties being shut down when DPS did not treat white students in the same manner.
  • Sofia James
  • November 17, 2020
It pays to be City Manager in Moreno Valley
Moreno Valley City Manager Tom DeSantis retired in December, but the paychecks kept coming
  • Myra Wu
  • September 30, 2020
One year ago today, Matthew Olson died on the I-110
Grief and questions still linger around the first student death of the fall 2019 semester.
  • Natalie Bettendorf
  • August 24, 2020
Indicted USC administrator’s side business spotlights the university’s oversight
The indicted senior associate athletic director ran a thriving side business that was tightly entwined with her duties at USC and involved more athletics department personnel than has been publicly known.
  • Kaidi "Ruby" Yuan and Ashley Zhang
  • December 5, 2019
More USC staff accepted bribes and helped admissions scam, feds say
Prosecutors confirmed that these new figures who they allege assisted Donna Heinel are not the three indicted coaches,
  • Kaidi "Ruby" Yuan and Ashley Zhang
  • December 4, 2019
How USC fired one dean, hired another, and kept itself mired in controversy
A faculty member on the nine-person advisory search committee told the Beacon Project that the committee had a list of more than 50 possible candidates for the Marshall deanship, but he was only given one person to interview: Geoffrey Garrett.
  • Sam Kmack and Consuelo Cifuentes
  • October 22, 2019
USC benefit helps children of employees earn free college degree
  • Consuelo Cifuentes
  • August 27, 2019
“Like The Kremlin”: USC’s broken promises of transparency
The contrast between USC’s promises of transparency and its actions has fueled mounting criticism.
  • Austin Peay
  • August 19, 2019
A former UCLA student said the doctor accused by 48 USC students sexually abused him too
The former graduate student said Dennis Kelly subjected him to invasive procedures during two visits.
  • Sasha Urban
  • August 17, 2019

Our newsletter is short and sweet.

Sign up for a story and a laugh, and we'll send you the best of what we've got.

* indicates required

Latest News

USC professors grapple with international travel restrictions

For USC professors, travel challenges differ depending on their individual citizenship status. Many don’t want to risk the prospect of infection from traveling, but for some, the U.S. maintains travel restrictions that legally ban them from getting aboard airplanes to return home.
Hao Xu, Kolton Nephew, Betsy Travis, Catherine Landaas, Esther Cho, Mimi Geller, Reagan Griffin Jr., Andrea Valeria Diaz Tolivia, Olivia Corish, Gabriella Rudy, Fernando Cienfuegos
Load More