The USC Board of Trustees Wednesday approved the hiring of Carol L. Folt, former chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as the university’s 12th president, making her the first female leader of the Trojan campus.
The hiring comes as the university reels from a college-admissions cheating scandal and continues dealing with the ramifications of sexual misconduct allegations against former campus physicians that led to last year’s departure of President C.L. Max Nikias.
But Folt, speaking at an afternoon campus news conference, said she was not daunted by the challenges facing the university.
“I’m taking this job exactly because of what I know,” Folt said. “I mean that with the fullness of my heart. I was called to ask to become the president of one of the greatest universities in the world and I believe so deeply in what it has done and what it can do. I am not afraid about taking on challenges. You can’t be. But I also have learned that you take on challenges by never forgetting your bigger mission and the good things that happen.
“… I think USC has an opportunity to do something extraordinary and lead,” she said. “But it’s easy to say it. It’s now how we’re going to come together to do it. I’m here full knowing why and I’m excited about it.”
Folt will begin her job July 1.
Wanda Austin, former CEO of The Aerospace Corp., has been serving as USC’s interim president since Nikias’ departure in August.
“Dr. Folt is a seasoned leader who has an excellent track record of listening to others,” Austin said in a statement. “She clearly understands the value of reaching out across campus, and for standing strong for the character and principles of a university’s community. Her experience gives me great confidence that she will uphold a culture of integrity at USC.”
Folt will take over as the university copes with its implication in a nationwide admissions-cheating scandal, in which more than 30 parents, including actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman; 11 athletic officials; coaches at USC, UCLA and other universities; and the scheme’s admitted ringleader, William “Rick” Singer, were charged.
USC last week fired senior associate athletic director Donna Heinel and water polo coach Jovan Vavic, who were among those charged in the case. The university is also reviewing the admissions-status of students believed to be linked to the scandal.
The university also continues to cope with sexual-misconduct allegations involving former campus doctors.
Nikias stepped down last year following revelations that longtime campus gynecologist George Tyndall had been the subject of years of complaints about sexual misconduct during exams conducted at the student health center.
In the ensuing weeks, hundreds of former students filed lawsuits against the university. The university reached a $215 million settlement in a class-action suit earlier this year, although dozens of other suits are still pending.
The scandal involving Tyndall and his removal — which the university acknowledged publicly in response to a months-long investigation by the Los Angeles Times — was the third involving physicians tied to USC that came to light over the course of a year.
Former medical school dean and longtime USC fundraiser Dr. Carmen Puliafito was fired by the school in August 2017 the wake of the newspaper’s report that he abused heroin, methamphetamine and other illegal drugs, including on days he worked as an eye doctor in university facilities. The Times also reported that a 21-year-old prostitute overdosed while taking drugs with Puliafito at a Pasadena hotel and accused the university of turning a blind eye to complaints about the dean.
Puliafito’s replacement, Dr. Rohit Varma, resigned in October 2017 as the newspaper was preparing to publish a story disclosing that he had been formally disciplined by USC in 2003 following allegations that he sexually harassed a young researcher while he was a junior professor supervising her work.
Folt said the challenges facing the university — and others across the country — should not cause people to lose faith in the nation’s higher-education system, or in USC.
“We pledge that we’re going to do everything possible to get to the bottom of this and make it right, but to give up on higher education, or to give up on USC, I think would be a serious mistake,” she said. “They didn’t give up on other institutions I’ve been at when trouble was there, but what was important is that we really do take actions and people see us doing it.
Folt is no stranger to campus upheaval. She resigned from her post at UNC in January following weeks of protest over a Confederate monument on campus. As one of her final acts, she ordered the removal of the monument from campus.
She became UNC chancellor as the university was dealing with academic irregularities involving campus athletes, and she implemented a series of changes while the university dealt with an NCAA probe.
An Ohio native, Folt attended Santa Barbara City College and UC Santa Barbara. She earned a degree in aquatic biology and a master’s degree in biology, later earning a doctorate in ecology at UC Davis.