USC President Carol Folt is retiring in July

USC President Carol Folt, who sought to reboot the scandal-plagued university with major initiatives to boost athletics, expand computer programs and expand student access – but also drew criticism for her handling of pro-Palestinian protests – will retire in July, she announced Friday.

“After more than twenty years of leadership at three great universities,” Folt wrote to the USC community, “I look forward to embracing the freedom that comes with taking the next big leap and passing the baton to the next president, who will be able to build on our successes and open a new chapter for this extraordinary institution.”

Folt, 73, remains at USC as a tenured faculty member. Her future was in question after the USC Board of Trustees offered her an extension to her five-year contract in July – but did not disclose the length or terms – as they reviewed her performance. After she took the helm on July 1, 2019, with a contract that gave her the same compensation as former President Max Nikias and was expected to keep her in office for at least a decade, Rick Caruso, USC’s then-chairman of the board, said at the Press conference said time.

USC Board of Trustees Chairwoman Suzanne Nora Johnson expressed her appreciation for Folt, saying she was hired at “one of the most important moments in the school’s history.” In a letter to the USC community Friday, Johnson praised her leadership skills and “innate ability to connect with community members on a personal level.”

“Her commitment to solving the difficult problems that lie before her—whether past or present—has never prevented her from focusing on what lies ahead,” Johnson wrote. “Her keen strategic vision for the future and the groundbreaking initiatives she has subsequently launched will benefit both the current and next generations of Trojans [undoubtedly] Contributing to USC’s long-term sustainable excellence.”

The problematic past regarding racial justice has been corrected

Folt said she is proud of her work to expand programs in computer science, health sciences, athletics, financial aid and student welfare. For example, she launched a $1 billion plan to expand computer science across the university, with a new School of Advanced Computing as the cornerstone.

Folt also called “of particular importance” her efforts to make amends for the university’s troubled past on racial justice issues – by awarding honorary degrees to 33 Japanese Americans who were imprisoned during World War II and denied the opportunity to continue their USC studies, whereby the name of the eugenicist Rufus von KleinSmid was removed from a prominent building and named it after Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow, a Native American leader, and honors Holocaust survivors with a university medallion.

“You have also helped us correct deeply painful episodes, restore a tarnished reputation and resolve serious legal issues, advance culture change, and develop new policies to ensure the safety and well-being of our community,” she wrote to USC -Community.

Folt was hired with the primary mission of restoring trust in a university that had been rocked by one scandal after another. She replaced key administration officials and brokered a $1 billion settlement with former victims of a sexually abusive gynecologist.

As the first woman to lead USC since its founding in 1880, Folt also worked to open access to more low-income, underrepresented, first-generation students of color. In one of her most touted initiatives, Folt directed USC to eliminate tuition for families making $80,000 or less a year and to stop counting home equity in financial aid calculations. The estimated annual cost of attending USC in 2024-25 is $95,225 for students not living with their families.

She brought national attention to important steps to transform USC’s athletics program. That included hiring a nationally known head football coach, Lincoln Riley, on a $10 million-a-year contract – one of the highest salaries in the sport, which is now coming under fire as USC’s performance falters. She also helped spearhead the move to the Big Ten that ultimately led to the failure of the Pac-12 Conference and hired Jen Cohn, the first female athletic director at USC.

Criticism of the spring protests

But those actions were overshadowed this spring by enormous controversy over its handling of pro-Palestinian protests.

In particular, her decision to remove pro-Palestinian valedictorian Asna Tabassum’s speaking slot at USC’s main commencement ceremony sparked widespread outrage. Folt justified the decision with unspecified security risks.

The uproar escalated when Folt canceled the “main stage” opening ceremony, depriving students and their families of a treasured ritual. Folt and her team called police to break up a tent camp that students had set up in support of Palestinians, resulting in 93 arrests.

She made no public statements for two weeks, drawing criticism for not being active in the most explosive matter of her term in office.

Such actions cost Folt important faculty support. In May, USC’s Academic Senate voted to censure her and Provost Andrew Guzman over their handling of events surrounding commencement. Of the 44 members of the Academic Senate, representing about 4,500 faculty members, 21 supported the no-confidence motion, seven opposed it and six abstained.

However, Folt’s supporters noted that the president created the new school for advanced computing and strengthened mental health care. It also saw a record number of applicants — 82,000 in fall 2024 — and dropped the admissions rate to 9.3%, a record low. Admitted students, a fifth of them the first in their families to attend college, had an average GPA of 3.89.

Under Folt, USC raised more than $800 million in fiscal year 2024, its largest total in eight years, and its fundraising total last year ranked among the top 10 among U.S. research universities, a USC statement said. Research spending rose to $1.1 billion in fiscal 2023, up 27% over four years, according to the emailed statement.

athletics

In her first six months as president in 2019, Folt set about reshaping USC’s athletic department. She replaced Lynn Swann, a Trojan football hero who resigned as athletic director in September, with Mike Bohn, the first outsider to lead USC athletics in a quarter-century.

But Bohn abruptly resigned last May after the Times sent him and USC questions about his conduct as athletic director and department head. Folt hired Cohen in his place.

On Thursday, Folt announced a $50 million donation for a state-of-the-art Bloom Football Performance Center — part of a $200 million fundraising effort she is leading, USC said. It is just one of several capital investment projects currently in the works.