The Trojan Knights are supposed to be celebrating their 103rd birthday next year. But right now, USC doesn’t even recognize their existence.
The Knights are a Recognized Student Organization — one of 911 on USC’s campus unable to begin their usual operations this semester because they and other RSOs are still waiting for Campus Activities to officially recognize them. The delay is creating mass confusion and uncertainty for clubs that are part of the fabric of the USC community.
“We weren’t allowed to have any Knight involvement at [last Saturday’s football] game until 4 p.m. on Friday,” said Julia Haffie, the president of Trojan Knights.
Haffie said The Knights were eventually granted a one-day pass by the Athletics department to attend the USC football game against Utah State, but the delay and uncertainty they experienced is not unique to them. RSOs like the Trojan Knights are unable to begin operations for the 2024-25 year because the application process has gotten more complicated this year, and student leaders have received little communication from USC.
Applications for re-recognition were advertised to open on July 1 but Campus Activities, the organization overseeing all RSOs at USC, did not send out the re-recognition forms until Aug. 8.
If applications were not turned in by Aug. 16, RSOs could not participate in the first involvement fair. The deadline to participate in the second involvement fair was Aug. 30. The final deadline to receive recognition was Sept. 6. If RSOs have not received recognition, they are unable to use campus facilities.
Ludus Remedium, one of the comedy troupes on campus, was not allowed to hold auditions in any USC buildings.
“We had to get 12 members across five different troupes staking out different locations,” said Helen Culpepper, president of Ludus Remedium. “Then getting kicked out of those locations… by Campus Activities employees. When all else failed, we just did them outside during a terrible heatwave.”
Ludus Remedium isn’t the only club getting kicked out of campus facilities. The Trojan Boxing Club at USC finally received approval from Campus Activities to hold practices at the USC Village Gym on Wednesday, but the approval came after threats of suspension and slashing practice time from the Recreational Club Council for holding unofficial practices.
“Every week, [members are] always asking, ‘Do we have practice this week?,’ and we have to keep telling them no,” said Parker Chang, the president of Trojan Boxing.
The RSOs are losing more than just access to facilities. Without official recognition, they are also unable to access their club’s finances.
“It’s being held up in [USC] Credit Union,” Chang said. “To withdraw the money, you have to submit paperwork through RCC. With the way things are going, we’re tentative about accepting dues and memberships now.”
In an email statement to Annenberg Media, USC Campus Activities said its office expected “the full review to be completed by the end of September,” with 150 student organizations already approved.
“University recognition is required on annual basis to maintain the status of a university Recognized Student Organization. Applications have been processed for those that applied by Aug. 23. This year the trainings are focused on the Student Commitment and the Unifying Values, as well as accessibility, leadership responsibilities, hazing prevention and anti-discrimination.”
The problem with this new process, student leadership said, is many aspects of the application have become more complicated this year. Culpepper described it as “bureaucratically insane.”
“We had to remake our whole constitution to fit their mold,” Haffie said.
An RSO’s constitution lays out their organization’s mission, goals and values. The constitution template all RSOs have to use went from nine pages to 14 pages this year.
“They’re really looking at every single detail,” Chang said, referring to the many forms RSOs have to submit. “If there’s a missing signature, missing initial or the constitution wasn’t completely perfect, they won’t accept the application.”
The RSO officers are also required to complete individual modules according to their roles and other modules on how to run the club. Without them, their application will be delayed or denied.
“Something was going on with the log-in, so no one could access the modules for a good amount of time, until the last day,” Chang said.
Without recognition, RSOs are unable to participate in the semesterly involvement fairs. Many clubs, like the Knights, have resorted to self-tabling at the off-campus Village crosswalk. They said this has caused a loss in recruitment for many RSOs.
“A lot of clubs are hurting this semester because people just don’t know they exist,” Chang said. “And it’s probably not salvageable during the spring semester.”
This story has been updated to include a comment from USC Campus Activities.