Trojan Family Weekend: A USC Tradition

One of my favorite things about USC is its long history that is incredibly rich in traditions. There are so many things here that have been happening for years, decades, even over a century! I didn’t think traditions and history would be important to me until I came here and became a part of this amazing culture. If I had to pick, I think my favorite USC tradition is Trojan Family Weekend. Family Weekend is a special weekend in the fall semester during football season where the university invites the students’ families to campus to sit in on classes, go to info sessions, and of course to see a football game and experience game day!

During my freshman year I didn’t think that Family Weekend was important because my parents live two hours away and can come see me any time, so I didn’t invite them to come. This year I decided to invite them because my sorority was having our Presents ceremony and I wanted my family here for that. It ended up being one of the best weekends of the semester and my dad even called it one of the highlights of his life! On Friday my mom came down and we visited my sorority house. She met the president, mixed with other parents, and I gave her a tour of the house.

The next day was Game Day and we met up with my dad and my brother to tailgate on campus before heading to the game. USC was playing Utah, and I was sure to warn my family that the odds were not in USC’s favor because Utah was ranked #3 and we were unranked with a shaky record. After tailgating on campus we walked over to the Coliseum (kicking the flag pole and rubbing George Tirebiter’s nose on the way). Even though I had convinced myself that our team wasn’t going to win, SC dominated the game, winning by a huge margin! My family was so excited and loved sharing the excitement that comes with Game Day and all of the USC traditions associated with it. Watching Traveler run around the field, listening to the marching band, and throwing up the V for Victory are all classic USC traditions that I loved being able to share with them.

On Sunday they came to my sorority house to watch our Presents (a ceremony where the new members are presented as officially in the chapter), and I gave my brother and my dad a tour of the house. They had never been in a sorority house before and barely knew what a sorority even was before now, but after I showed them around and they saw how much it meant to me, they finally understood what all the fuss was about. Even though I’m currently the only person in my family who has ever gone to USC, they now consider themselves apart of the Trojan Family through all of the amazing traditions they were apart of during Trojan Family Weekend.

This weekend meant so much to me and my family, they’re definitely going to come every year now! I love this tradition and all of the little traditions that come with it because they bond people together and help shape what we call the Trojan Family.

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