Alumni Park is bathed in red and yellow. Under colored tents, everything is tinted Trojan. The photobooth is filled with people waving foam fingers and mini plastic megaphones. Tables filled with breakfast and drinks draw lines of people to the sides of the quad. But the biggest crowd is the one that follows the band as it snakes toward Tommy Trojan. Tommy may stand for the Trojans, but the Vice President for Student Life Monique Allard speaks for the students and their parents.
Monique Allard: It is my absolute pleasure to welcome and open Trojan Family Weekend. In Student Life, we get to help students with almost everything outside of the classroom.
It’s bright, it’s warm, and it’s loud as families enjoy the first hours of Family Weekend.
Reception Leader: Fight on, and with the most enthusiasm you can muster ‘fight on,’ there you go, now you’re ready.
East Coast native Tina Mostrangeli squints against the LA sun, but she’s happy to attend the event for her son for the fourth year in a row.
Tina Mostrangeli: He really wanted to go to California for school, and he was really happy to get into USC. We think it’s been a great experience and so much opportunity, so many incredible programs and all for the people to just take advantage if they want to.
And it’s not just academic advantages USC offers. This is Shawn Toborg’s first year attending because of COVID, but he’s no less excited to take advantage of this time with his son here on campus.
Shawn Toborg: I guess [I’m] just hanging out with him and he can show me the places that he loves hanging out at as well as going to the football game. Of course, the tailgating. So, meeting his friends and just hearing stories about how school is going and whatnot.
More than just parents show up in support of the students. Aunt Aurelia Dennigan has high hopes for the events taking place over the next three days. She enjoyed herself so much last year that she came back for a second family weekend.
Aurelia Dennigan: It shows you a wide range, a wide array of different aspects of the university they featured, different like the cinema. They feature archeology. Oh, and here’s the 80s songs coming back for all the parents, which is fun.
Today is just the start of the festivities, with the music continuing into the night. USC is hosting an 80s themed concert, along with other fun activities throughout the weekend for students and their families to look forward to.