USC Black Alumni Association To Host 28th Annual Trojan Legends Homecoming Celebration November 9-11, 2012

PRESS OPPORTUNITY AT 9:30 A.M., NOV. 10 AT VKC PLAZA.

Los Angeles, CA, November 10, 2012 — The USC Black Alumni Association will celebrate its 28th Annual Trojan Legends Homecoming Weekend featuring an all-star alumni line up of Honorary Chairs.

This year’s celebration will be hosted by Olympian Allyson Felix ’08, American Airlines Executive Debbie Pattillo ’84 and Rose Bowl Champion Martin French ’92. The weekend’s activities will culminate with a Scholarship Walk in posthumous honor of alumni Gregory Watson ’80. All proceeds from the Scholarship Walk will be donated to the Gregory Watson Scholarship housed within the Black Alumni Association. The tailgate will take place at VKC with a brief program.

All the honorary chairs will be made available to press at 9:30 a.m., Nov. 10 at VKC Plaza.

Allyson Felix

Olympian Allyson Felix began her journey into Track and Field while attending Los Angeles Baptist High School. Being named the national girls’ “High School Athlete of the Year” by Track and Field News and making history in Mexico City, where she ran the 200m in 22.11 seconds; the fastest in history for a high school girl were two defining moments in her athletic career. Allyson made headlines once again when she signed a professional contract with Adidas and attended USC. Felix has had many career highlights including but not limited to: The 2nd female athlete in the world to win three gold medals at a single IAAF World Championship in Athletics, the youngest-ever gold medalist sprinter in the 200m in 22.16 seconds at the World Championships in Helsinki in 2005 which she successfully defeated her own title two years later at Osaka (2007) finishing at 21.81 seconds; 0.37 seconds faster than her previous season-record. In 2009 at 23, Felix claimed her third 200-meter World Championships gold medal, with a time of 22.02 seconds. She is a 3 time recipient of the Jesse Owens “Athlete of the Year” Award  from USATF; being the second woman (after Marion Jones) to win the award three (2005, 2007, and 2010) times. Most recently Allyson competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics and competed in four events where she was the first American woman to win three gold medals in athletics since Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988.

Debbie Pattillo

Debbie Pattillo currently serves as American Airlines’ Manager of Diversity Marketing for Southern California. During her tenure with the company, Debbie has developed inspiring campaigns for community involvement while simultaneously generating exposure for American Airlines throughout Los Angeles and the Greater Southern California Region. Debbie received her bachelor’s degree in 1984 from USC where she was honored with the Black Alumni Association Corporate Vanguard Award in 2004. Presently, she acts as the Tournament Director for the Flagship Charities Golf Classic, serves on the board of the Los Angeles Urban League, The Magic Johnson Foundation, and the Los Angeles area United Negro College Fund, and is a trustee board member at St. Anne’s.

Martin French

Current freelance reporter and former USC Football All Letterman and Rose Bowl Champion Martin French has worked throughout the sports industry since his graduation from the USC Annenberg School of Communications in 1992. Martin was recognized by the industry receiving the coveted LA Press Award. In addition to his love of sports reporting Martin has worked with the Compton Unified School District teaching and coaching football and baseball to high school students. Martin is an active member of the USC Black Alumni Association donating his time to alumni events and mentoring Black Alumni Association scholars.

Tickets

Tickets are on sale now. Combo packages which include a football ticket, meal and scholarship walk contribution are $115. For further information and a complete list of pricing options please contact the BAA office at 213-740-8342 or visit the BAA website.