The Widney Alumni House provides a dramatic backdrop for student performers entertaining the Widney Society gala crowd. (USC Photo/Steve Cohn)
Widney Society fetes benefactors who drive the success of the Campaign for USC
The organization is made up of supporters who have donated $1 million or more in gifts or pledges to the university over a lifetime
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In the spirit of the founding of the university, some of USC’s most visionary and generous supporters — the Widney Society — came together at a gala dinner Nov. 16 to celebrate their collective impact on the university.
The Widney Society comprises benefactors who have donated $1 million or more in gifts or pledges over their lifetimes to USC. About 400 donors and guests joined in the celebration, which was held outside the Widney Alumni House, USC’s first building.
Fittingly, the event turned the spotlight on talented USC students, who performed on stage and gave inspirational talks about their experiences at the university. The Campaign for USC, the university’s ongoing fundraising effort to advance academic priorities and expand USC’s positive impact on the community and the world, is already benefitting the entire USC community and will continue to do so for decades to come.
The Widney Society is named for Judge Robert Maclay Widney, the chief architect and founder of USC. In 1880s Los Angeles, Widney assembled a small council of leaders and shared his vision for a great university that would rise on American frontier. They pledged to foster the budding university and joined together to create a blueprint for its success. Their vision continues to this day as USC ascends the ranks of the nation’s great research universities.