University of Southern California - El Rodeo Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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... nol: always as it seems Photo by Greg Dawson 4 Opening

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Everything is... Listen to the sounds of our cam- pus. The droves of people hustling through Hahn Plaza during lunch, the blaring of the brass as the band practices on Cromwell Field, the in- cessant lecturing of a bio professor in Bovard, the roar of the masses on a Saturday afternoon at the Colise- um, the timely ringing of the VKC chimes. . . Can this be the true nature of our fair university? Is there nothing more than a kaleidoscope of individ- uals, several miles of concrete walk- ways, and a ton of administrative red tape at this educational institution? What might we be missing as we trudge through our collegiate car- eers? Perhaps we have used the wrong sense in our attempt to uncover the real USC. Let ' s eliminate the audible in favor of the visual. Try looking at the globe instead of hearing the bells, watching the fountains rather than listening to the noontime com- motion, examining the sword be- sides lending our ears to the surrounding rhetoric. Now what do we perceive? Shapes, sizes, colors and a certain electricity about the area. But what does it all mean? Take a look, a good look at our fabled inner city of Los Angeles. If we just open our eyes, perhaps we can discover what the Trojan mys- tique really is. 6 Russ Whismore Opening 3

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September 4, 1880 was an impor- tant day in the life of Los Angeles. Between five hundred and a thou- sand people (nearly one-tenth of the city ' s population at that time) came to Agricultural (Exposition) Park to witness the founding of the first ma- jor, permanent institution of higher learning in southern California. De- spite transportation difficulties, the intolerable late summer heat, and a thick layer of dust which had settled everywhere, the ' immense throng, ' as the Los Angeles Daily Herald called the audience, watched the laying of the first cornerstone of the new university. Regarding the site of the event, one viewer noted, standing in the midst of a vast stretch of unoccupied, uncultivated plain covered with a rank growth of wild mustard, the unfinished build- ing was indeed a lonely object to those who saw only the present. mmm. mmt ' ' d ' r..-;] »ymm • 4. r. t ,. . 1 Given its humble beginnings as a school of 53 students in a single wooden building on donated land, that university has traced a tremen- dous academic, cultural, and athlet- ic course for more than a century. What began as a seemingly overam- bitious dream by the Bovard family has now become one of the coun- try ' s major centers of higher educa- tion. And it is the aura of that university, our University of Southern California, that we attempt to reveal in this book. From the sword held in Tommy ' s right hand to the existence of the globe atop the VKC tower to the multitude of trophies which our ath- letes have earned over the decades, our campus is adorned with stories that reflect the image of Southern Cal. From the end of ' reality ' at the Cinema school to the tales of the Bovard gargoyles, our university continually embraces and embel- lishes itself throughout its 105-year history. From the mustard fields of the 1880 ' s to the multitude of build- ings and campus extensions today, use possesses a great deal of heri- tage, tradition, . . . and mystique. by Russ Whismore Photos by Rex Price 5 II nun I iUJ-lil ? - SL Opening 5