Old School Will Be New School

THE OXFORD THAT sprawled before me was exactly as I imagined. The academic buildings were stately, church bells peeled and young men gamely tried their luck at punting on the River Cherwell without falling in.

My husband, Paul, had lived and studied at St. Peter’s—one of the University of Oxford’s 38 residential colleges. Some 23 years after he graduated, we returned to visit. Oxford’s colleges ooze with history, rooted in rituals such as formal meals. These dinners, Paul remembered, were served in the college’s grand dining hall, where the faculty held court at a high table and students had to wear gowns and ties or skirts. Each week a student was drawn at random to say grace in Latin. Paul miraculously avoided selection.

He tested his academic mettle and sipped tea during chats with professors at the college, surrounded by towering shelves of leather-bound books. He was immersed in a community devoted to learning. He also formed friendships at the college and shaped habits that survive to this day.

So when I heard about plans to create residential colleges at the new USC Village, the mission made sense. For undergraduates, USC Village will serve as more than a place to live. Residential colleges become the center of a university experience that remains relevant today because it shapes and supports intellectual, emotional and social development. If you visit the University Park Campus this fall, stop by the USC Village site and imagine its brick walls, Gothic windows and clock tower rising before you.

For tomorrow’s Trojans, this will be home.

Alicia Di Rado

Editor-In-Chief, USC Trojan Family Magazine