The interim president of USC on Monday announced the launch of a new fund in which the “Trojan family” is being asked to donate to help advance the university’s research programs in light of “extraordinary stress” currently felt by USC and other top universities from the Trump administration.
Beong-Soo Kim said the Trojan Fund for Research Excellence “will give every member of our Trojan family the opportunity to advance USC’s research mission and its far-reaching impacts on our community, our economy, our nation, and our world,” according to an email message sent Monday to the USC community.
In an accompanying video message, Kim said that over the last several months, “the research done at USC and other universities has come under extraordinary stress. Researchers who have devoted their lives expanding the frontiers of knowledge and understanding and developing life-changing therapies and technologies are understandably concerned about the future of their work.”
Kim said in his message that later this week he planned to meet with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., “to talk about the importance of USC’s research (in) maintaining the country’s national security and economic competitiveness.”
Facing uncertainty in federal funding, USC administrators announced in March a series of financial austerity measures — including a staff hiring freeze and restrictions on faculty hiring.
President Donald Trump has authorized large cuts to scientific research, the reorganization of student loans and an investigation accusing USC of failing to protect Jewish students during protests over Israel’s war with Gaza following the Hamas attacks in October 2023.
“As you are aware, colleges and universities across the nation are facing tremendous scrutiny and financial stress due to federal funding uncertainty, cuts, increased costs, and other risks,” university leaders including then-USC President Carol Folt wrote in an online message to the USC community in announcing the austerity measures.
“Like other major research institutions, USC relies on significant amounts of federal funding to carry out our mission. In fiscal year 2024, for example, we received approximately $1.35 billion in federal funding, including roughly $650 million in student financial aid and $569 million for federally funded research. The health system also receives Medicare, Medicaid, and Medi-Cal payments — a significant portion of its revenues — and the futures of those funds are similarly uncertain.”
The USC leaders noted in March that the university has already made cuts to reduce a structure deficit, but said more steps are needed “to increase our financial resilience in the face of exceptional financial uncertainty.”
Those steps will include a staff hiring freeze, curtailment of faculty hiring, a thorough review of procurement contracts of $50,000 or more, a reassessment of capital projects to identify those that could be deferred or paused, restrictions on discretionary spending such as conferences and non-essential business travel, and an elimination of most merit increases for the 2024 performance cycle, the university stated.
Trump’s recent budget and tax bill reportedly levies a tiered tax on university endowments, which previously were not taxable. The administration has said the new tax is a way to prevent universities from abusing “generous benefits provided through the tax code.”
Kim, formerly USC’s senior vice president and general counsel, was officially elevated to interim university president at the start of this month with the departure of Folt.
