Trojan Knights - Notable Events

Notable Events

After the USC-UCLA rivalry game in 1941, six Trojan Knights (also members of the Sig Ep fraternity) discreetly plotted and carried out what is now politely referred to as the 'appropriation' of the Victory Bell from the UCLA sidelines. After a year-long prank war between the schools and threats by the administration to cancel that year's game, the bell was returned and subsequently made the official rivalry trophy of the annual game by contract between the student body presidents of the two universities.

In 1946, a Knight rescued a dog from a Santa Monica beach. A year later, after becoming a common sight around campus, the dog (named George Tirebiter) would become USC's unofficial mascot. Knights would continue to care for the dog who was later killed in a car crash. A statue honoring the dog's memory currently stands at the south end of Trousdale Parkway on the USC campus.

The Knights are also linked to the origins of Traveler, the white horse that currently serves as USC's official mascot. Although the first official 'Traveler' did not appear until 1961, a Trojan Knight named Arthur J. Gontier III rode a white horse at a USC football game in 1954. This, along with an earlier appearance by a horse in 1948, set a precedent for what has become a long USC tradition of equine mascots.

The Knights later received national media attention after the "Westwood Sucks" card stunt incident. During the 1971 ABC broadcast of the USC-UCLA rivalry game, only the middle part of a Knights-organized card stunt meant to read "Why do people go to UCLA? Westwood sucks...them in" made the air.

Throughout this time, Knights were also involved in arranging and hosting university events not related to athletics. In his memoir, Awakening Waves, Alumnus Richard LeVine recalls using his position as a Trojan Knight in 1960 to arrange campus speaking engagements with then-presidential candidates Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy.