University of Southern California (USC) President Carol Folt announced that she would resign, effective July 1, 2025, making her the latest academic leader to depart following more than a year of antisemitic protests on campus.
The Daily Trojan noted that Folt did not provide a specific reason for her resignation. However, the Jewish News Syndicate noted that Folt had been criticized for the way USC handled — or mishandled — the protests: “In June, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into USC for potential violations of Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. In August, Folt received a plan for how to address campus antisemitism.”
As Breitbart News reported earlier this year, USC brought the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) onto campus to clear a pro-Palestinian “encampment.” USC also canceled graduation rather than allow disruptive anti-Israel protests.
Several other university presidents have been forced to resign because of their failure to manage the protests and to protect Jewish students. They include Harvard president Claudine Gay and Columbia president Minouche Shafik.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who helped lead congressional inquiries into campus antisemitism, has been nominated as President-elect Donald Trump’s UN Ambassador; she will encounter more endemic antisemitism in that forum.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.