Tommy Trojan, officially known as the Trojan Shrine, is one of the most recognizable figures of school pride at the University of Southern California

University of Southern California

The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...

. The life-size bronze

Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...

 statue

Statue

A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...

 of a Trojan

Troy

Troy was a city, both factual and legendary, located in northwest Anatolia in what is now Turkey, southeast of the Dardanelles and beside Mount Ida...

 warrior sits in the center of campus and serves as a popular meeting spot, as well as a centerpiece for a number of campus events. It is the most popular unofficial mascot of the university.

History

The Trojan Shrine was sculpted by Roger Noble Burnham and based on a variety of USC football players, including Russ Saunders

Russ Saunders

Russ Saunders was a fullback in the National Football League. He played with the Green Bay Packers during the 1931 NFL season.He was an All-American at USC and was one of the models for the Tommy Trojan statue...

, Ernie Pinckert, Henry Becker, Larry Stevens and John Ward. The statue was unveiled during the University's 50th Jubilee in 1930. It cost $10,000 to build, after which a $1 surcharge was added onto the season football tickets in order to help offset this cost.

The original name suggested for the statue was The Spirit of Troy

Spirit of Troy

The Spirit of Troy, also known as the University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band , self-described as "The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe," represents USC at various collegiate sports, broadcast, popular music recording, and national public appearance functions.The...

, but that name went to the school's marching band.

Features

Tommy Trojan is located at the core of the campus and often serves as a meeting ground for students and visitors. Many people take pictures with the statue. Tommy Trojans is surrounded by the Bovard Administration Building, Ronald Tutor Campus Center, and Alumni Park. Trousdale Parkway passes next to the statue. USC offers the Tommy Cam, which is a live image of the statue, with daily time-lapse videos. The statue is unique in that the figure is flexing every muscle in his body, a physically impossible feat. Inscribed on the base of the statue are the five attributes of the ideal Trojan

USC Trojans

The USC Trojans are the athletic teams representing the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the Trojans, the women's athletic teams are referred to as either the Trojans or Women of Troy...

: Faithful, Scholarly, Skillful, Courageous and Ambitious. On the reverse is a plaque bearing a quote by Virgil

Virgil

Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...

: "Here are provided seats of meditative joy, where shall rise again the destined reign of Troy."

Vandalism

USC's cross-town rival UCLA

University of California, Los Angeles

The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...

 had vandalized

Vandalism

Vandalism is the behaviour attributed originally to the Vandals, by the Romans, in respect of culture: ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable...

 Tommy Trojan (often by painting the statue in the UCLA colors of blue and gold) during the week of the annual USC-UCLA football game. To prevent this, university officials now cover the statue during that week to protect the statue from UCLA vandals. Students also gather for Save Tommy Nite on the night before the game against UCLA. In addition, members of the Trojan Knights

Trojan Knights

The Trojan Knights are an American service and spirit organization associated specifically with the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California...

 maintain an all-night vigil around Tommy Trojan during the rivalry week to further deter would-be pranksters.

Identity

Many people identify Tommy Trojan as the symbol of the university. However, Tommy Trojan is not USC's official mascot; that title belongs to Traveler

Traveler (mascot)

Traveler is a horse who is the mascot of the University of Southern California. He appears at all USC home football games in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as well as many other outdoor events, including numerous Rose Parades. The current horse is Traveler VII...

, a white Andalusian horse. Before Traveler, a real local dog named George Tirebiter

George Tirebiter

George Tirebiter was the unofficial mascot of the University of Southern California in the 1940s. When a stray dog was discovered by a group of USC students at Curry's Ice Cream parlor, one student remarked that the dog looked like a Navy V-12 student named George Kuhns...

served as the unofficial mascot. A statue of the dog is also a feature of the campus.

External links

• Photographs featuring inscriptions from the base - Tommy Trojan, the Mascot of USC