C.L. Max Nikias is inaugurated as USC's new president

C.L. Max Nikias was officially inaugurated as USC President Friday morning.

Delegates from across the globe representing other universities, the surrounding community, USC alumni, and the leadership of USC students, staff, and parents marched down the walkway from Bovard to Doheny Library to welcome the new President.

President Nikias showed his pride and gratitude for being nominated and selected for his new position at USC. He made sure to mention to the Trojan Family his dedication to the university and his commitment to make it an even “greater institution.”

His new vision for the university is to make the campus a place “where the influencers and the greatest artist of the pacific age will be educated, shaped and molded.” 

“This is our moment, and I believe that should be our vision,” President Nikias said.

As President of USC, Nikias has five priorities to attend to:
1)    To improve faculty resources
2)    To create a “world-wide Trojan Family”
3)    To progress with technology
4)    To unify USC
5)    To utilize the community as a unique social research laboratory.

“When you know the person and you watch their accomplishments and see them progress and they are setting a bold vision for a place, it’s a personally gratifying experience,” said Stephen Director, a delegate from Northeastern University. Director was a dean of the Viterbi School of Engineering with Nikias, and said it is good to watch a friend honored in this way.

“He’s done an outstanding job of moving the school of engineering forward and I suspect he’ll do the same as president,” Director said.

Student leaders from USC’s Greek community said they were happy to get a chance to show their support for Nikias by participating in the ceremony. The president of the National Panhellenic Council, Alisia Thompson, said the invitation for them to participate in the ceremony demonstrated Nikias’ commitment to diversity in student leadership.

“I know that part of what President Nikias wanted to do was to show diversity, and us being one of the cultural groups on campus, he invited us to participate in his inauguration,” Thompson said. “So, by inviting us, not only does it show that we are a Greek community, but there is diversity within our Greek diversity that is represented by all of the Universities. I think that’s what he really wants to accomplish in his term.”

President Nikias made sure to include all of the student body, including athletes, “Our athletics heritage will demonstrate that the triumphs of athletics and the triumphs of education are the same at the core - body and mind working together in harmony in pursuit of excellence.”

Faculty from each academic school filed down the brick walkway as the founding dates of the schools were announced. Representatives from organizations affiliated with USC gave speeches honoring Nikias.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spoke at the inauguration saying USC and the city of Los Angeles go hand in hand.

"It is not hyperbolic to say this is the city where the world comes together," Villaraigosa said. "And this is where they come, to this great institution."