The scene at USC under a bright late-summer sun Thursday looked a lot like the pageantry of graduation — thousands of students in black academic gowns marching behind department flags and faculty in elaborate, colorful robes.
But it was actually the opposite: the age-old tradition called convocation that officially welcomes new students to the university.
And after a week of dorm move-ins and lingering family goodbyes, those being sent off campus are not graduates, but parents, who seemed most swept up in the moment and their kids’ futures at a university where tuition, housing and other costs before financial aid can breach the $100,000 mark.
The Trojan Marching Band played. Trustees, undergraduate student government leaders and graduate students gathered. And cheering parents showed up in Trojan shirts and gear freshly purchased on campus.
Beong-Soo Kim, the university’s 13th president, acknowledged the bittersweet mood as he addressed Trojans and their families.
“This is their celebration too,” Kim told students, asking them to recognize the parents, teachers and mentors who helped them reach that moment.
At one point Kim pulled out a Polaroid camera, asking students to make USC’s victory sign and shout together, “Fight on!”
For many parents in the crowd, letting go proved harder than showing up.
Andy Ramirez, a first-year student in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, said his family drove in from Lancaster to see him.
His mother and father were there. So were the parents of his late best friend, who came to cheer him on because they knew their child would have, too.
“It was for sure my family and my friends’ families that were the reason for me waking up today to come here. They’re all coming to see me because they’re really excited to support me,” Ramirez said.
Ramirez moved into the New North dorm this week. He said the size and walkability of the campus surprised — and delighted — him. He logged 30,000 steps in a single day.
He wants to study propulsion engineering and hopes to land an internship at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Lockheed Martin or Northrop Grumman.
Suzanne and Jim Moller, who wore “Fight On” Trojan shirts for the event, flew in from Chicago to see their son, Keith, move into his dorm and enroll at the Marshall School of Business. They will leave USC as empy-nesters.
“I’m heartbroken. I’ve been crying,” Suzanne Moller said.
Keith was the last of their children to live at home. The couple’s daughter attends college in Iowa.
“It was really fun being his mom for the 18 years,” she said, with a chuckle. “I quit that job. My job is done.”
Usila Koech and her husband, Amos Koech, drove in from Las Vegas to send off their son, Kiprotich.
Kiprotich will study at the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, with a minor in creative writing.
The Koeches are also excited about their son‘s budding sports career. He plans to join USC’s track team, running 100- and 200-meter races. The parents pointed to USC’s track and field history, noting Olympic sprinter Allyson Felix ran for the Trojans.
The Koeches immigrated decades ago from Kenya. For them, Thursday felt like reaching a piece of the American dream.
“For us to be an immigrant family that came here with nothing and have to work hard and to see your child here at one of the most premier universities in the world is such a gift,” Usila Koech said.
Reda Boutayeb, a second-year master’s student in the Mark and Mary Stevens School of Computing and Artificial Intelligence, carried his school’s banner during the event as he led new students in the procession.
He had joined convocation once before, as a first-year graduate student.
“I went just like everyone. At 7 a.m. I showed up, wore my regalia, sat down and just soaked in the sun for a couple hours,” he said of the experience last year.
This year, Boutayeb returned in an official capacity, representing Viterbi’s graduate students.
“Last year, I was new, and the whole USC experience and campus — everything — was new to me. This year, I am here to help, and try to welcome these new students who were in the same place I used to be,” he said.
Varun Soni, USC’s dean of religious and spiritual life, delivered the ceremony’s invocation. He spoke of the “hero’s journey,” a story pattern popularized by 20th century writer and professor Joseph Campbell, and how it inspired George Lucas, a former USC student, to write “Star Wars.”
“New Trojans, just like Luke Skywalker, you too left your home to embark upon a hero’s journey of self-discovery and transformation,” Soni said.
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