Eighty-seven years after Tommy Trojan took his place in what is now Hahn Plaza, USC unveiled a statue of Hecuba, Queen of Troy, during the USC Village opening ceremony on Thursday. Hecuba, who in Greek mythology mothered 19 children and served as queen during the Trojan War, is USC's first prominent female statue.
"We proudly have the most prized jewel in the crown of our campus," USC President C.L. Max Nikias said.
Three years after Nikias stood on a dirt plot at the corner of Hoover Street and Jefferson Boulevard to break ground on the most ambitious construction project in university history, he returned to officially introduce the USC Village with the unveiling of a "towering and timeless treasure."
Hecuba stands with her right arm outstretched, a symbolic welcome to the Trojan Family and the local community, Nikias said. The cylindrical base features six female figures, each representing a different race and a different area of study.
Sculptor Christopher Slatoff spent three years designing the towering Queen of Troy statue, a 20-foot-tall figure Nikias called a "powerful piece of physical poetry."
"This diversity of faces, this diversity of disciplines; it is the University of Southern California in the 21st century," Nikias said.
Thousands of students, parents and community members flooded into the Village's Central Piazza on Thursday to get a look at the mammoth $700 million development. It features 14 dining locations, a 30,000 square foot gym and six residential colleges.
In order to earn the support of community members, USC held town hall meetings during the planning phase. The Trader Joe's grocery store that anchors the plaza is a direct result of feedback from those meetings.
Former LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa thanked USC for $40 million in monetary community benefits, including up to $20 million given to an affordable housing fund managed by the city.
"Thank you for understanding that the key to the future of this university is the connection to its neighborhoods," Villaraigosa said.
In all, the Village supported 5,600 construction jobs with 20 percent of the workforce coming from communities within 5 miles of the project. USC also held job fairs to fill hundreds of permanent positions, estimated to number 800 so far.