LAUSD Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho, center right, looks on as USC’s Samuel Garrison takes center stage. (USC Photo/Gus Ruelas)
USC Leslie and William McMorrow Neighborhood Academic Initiative celebrates partnership with local schools
Students from Audubon Middle School and Obama Global Prep represented the next group of area kids who will benefit from a partnership between their respective schools and the USC program.
In a room filled with elected officials and leaders from Los Angeles’ public and private education sector, two middle school students stole the show Monday morning at a celebratory event at the Amy King Dundon-Berchtold University Club of USC on the USC University Park Campus.
Dressed in their white school polos, Aaliyah Gordon, a student at Audubon Middle School in the Leimert Park neighborhood, and R’yn Duncan, a student at Barack Obama Global Preparation Academy in South L.A., spoke about why the USC Leslie and William McMorrow Neighborhood Academic Initiative — USC’s premier college access program — is so pivotal in their academic journey.
“For over 30 years, the USC NAI program, in partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District, has helped out student school success, proving that with dedication and support, all of our dreams are within reach,” said Duncan, who will move on to Crenshaw High School. “We are proud to be a part of that legacy and excited for what’s ahead.”
Gordon, who will attend Susan Miller Dorsey Senior High School in the Baldwin Hills neighborhood of L.A., said the agreement between USC NAI and the two middle schools is more than just “words on a page.”
“It represents a promise, a commitment to providing students with the support, resources and opportunity they need to reach college and beyond,” Gordon said.
Duncan and Gordon are part of the first class to experience the program at their respective schools, as part of the USC NAI’s south and west L.A. expansion agreement that was signed in 2023. The partnership — which the Monday morning event celebrated — ushered in a new era for the two schools, as well for educational opportunity in the southwest L.A. area.
“I am really proud of the work NAI does, and when you see [these students] graduate and hear about the impressive schools they’re all going to, you know this work is real,” said Pedro Noguera, dean of the USC Rossier School of Education. “These are challenging times that call for all of us to stay calm and keep doing the right thing, but this is the right thing. This kind of work yields very concrete results that will benefit generations to come.”
A history of empowering students
Started in 1991, USC NAI provides college admission and graduation support to nearly 1,000 sixth through 12th grade students from low-income households in neighboring communities each year. The initiative has a 100% high school graduation rate and a 99% college graduation rate. Graduates of the program — the majority of whom are first-generation college students — enroll in prestigious institutions across the country, with many choosing USC as their next academic home.
Samuel Garrison, USC senior vice president for university relations, said Monday’s event was many years in the making and further cements the university’s commitment to local students.
“NAI has been a national model for college success and access,” Garrison said. “The purpose is simple: for USC to fulfill our role and responsibility as a higher education institution in expanding access and pathways for the students right here in our communities.”
L.A. Unified School District Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho said being able to count on programs like NAI during “uncertain times” is crucial.
“This partnership has really propelled so many from within our community, who otherwise would not succeed, into a position of understanding what it takes to actually succeed,” Carvalho said. “It is this type of community initiative that leads to the success of our students in today’s economy.”
Continued path to higher education
An alumna of Susan Miller Dorsey Senior High School, LAUSD board member Sherlett Hendy Newbill said she was proud to see more schools added to NAI.
“As someone who grew up in this community and would walk to USC to be able to experience some of the things here, this is a great honor for our students to be able to get this experience firsthand,” Hendy Newbill said. “As a representative of this board district and a product of this area, I am just so ecstatic and so happy that this is happening.”
Hendy Newbill acknowledged that the field of education is facing unprecedented times but emphasized the “public” part of public education, and that the only way to move forward is together.
“We are a community, and we’re stronger together,” Hendy Newbill said. “With this initiative, we’re going to continue to move forward and to make the product of this community shine even brighter.”
