On May 16th, the LA Times published their exposé regarding the cover-up of 20+ years of misconduct by the USC campus gynecologist, George Tyndall. President Nikias has repeatedly proven that he does not take seriously the safety of women on USC’s campus. Nikias fails to provide transparency to students; his decisions have jeopardized student safety. Under his leadership, cover-ups have spoiled the USC reputation and have hindered real change on campus to keep students safe.

This includes:

1. Failing to inform Tyndall’s patients after the internal investigation found his behavior during pelvic exams amounted to sexual harassment (Ryan, Hamilton, & Pringle, 2018)
2. Failing to report Tyndall’s misconduct to the California Medical Board until March 9th, despite the university receiving complaints about his behavior since the 1990’s (Ryan et al., 2018)
3. Failing to provide a full account of how the university handled allegations about former Keck dean, Puliafito (Pringle & Elmahrek, 2017)
4. Endorsing the promotion of Varma to Dean of the medical school, despite the university knowing his history of sexual harassment (Parvini, Ryan, Pringle, & Elmahrek, 2017)

Through his actions, it is evident that President Nikas either promoted both Puliafito and Varma despite knowing their histories of abuse and mistreatment or failed to adequately vet the men promoted to positions of power at the university. These scenarios directly sacrifice the safety of students on campus.

Urgent action must be taken to ensure that this blatant disregard for the safety of USC students does not continue. This petition calls on the USC Board of Trustees to remove President Nikias from his roles both as university president and chairman of the USC Health System Board. The USC administration must be held accountable for their negligence.

Parvini, S., Ryan, H., Pringle, P., & Elmahrek, A. (2017, October 06). USC medical school dean out amid revelations of sexual harassment claim, $135,000 settlement with researcher.

Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-meusc-dean-harassment-20171005-story.html

Pringle, P., & Elmahrek, A. (2017, November 14). USC had many warnings about medical school dean's behavior but took little action.

Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-meusc-dean-20171114-story.html

Ryan, H., Hamilton, M., & Pringle, P. (2018, May 16). A USC doctor was accused of bad behavior with young women for years. The university let him continue treating students.

Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-usc-doctor misconduct-complaints-20180515-story.html#nt=tertiarynavbar