Carol L. Folt was inaugurated Friday morning as the University of Southern California’s 12th president, formally assuming one of the most daunting assignments in American higher education — fixing USC.
An outsider who previously ran the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Folt is the first woman to hold the post. She takes the helm as the private university is trying to recover from years of scandal that scarred its national reputation, cost hundreds of millions of dollars in court settlements and lost contributions and felled a seemingly invincible president.
“Today we are turning a page at USC,” Folt told hundreds of students, faculty, and alumniafter a colorful procession across campus in academic regalia. “We are starting a new journey of exploration.”