An Open Letter to USC Film School
Top 3 film schools still haven't signed AAC&U letter in defense of academic freedom
As you may have seen, my last couple of Substacks were about how the majority of Top 25 film schools in America are at institutions whose leaders have signed the AAC&U letter pushing back against the Trump Administration’s attacks on academic freedom. When I checked today, of the 606 college and university presidents who’ve signed, the institutions housing the top 3 ranked film schools, USC, NYU and AFI, still have not. The good news is that the majority of the rest of the Top 25 have signed, including where I currently teach, Chapman University, the #4-ranked film school. (Maybe the next time The Hollywood Reporter ranks film schools they should take their institutions’ defense of academic freedom into account?)
Sadly, my own graduate film school alma mater, the University of Southern California, has not exhibited bold leadership on this issue. USC President Carol Folt, shows no inclination to sign. In her official response, Folt wrote, “We also have a range of opinions about signing open letters, which I rarely do.” OK, she’s not a big signer. But she went on, “My approach is to continue working with state and federal legislators and collaborating with institutions nationwide on a number of fronts, to ensure the continuation of vital research, healthcare, and educational programs that enrich our world.” Not exactly a bold statement of support for her fellow university presidents on the battle lines of academic freedom. Given her controversial responses to last year’s protests on campuses (where 90 students were arrested by police in riot gear), she’s lucky she still has a job at all today.
She may not be rocking the boat, but that won’t save it from hitting the iceberg. As Columbia University, and numerous law firms, already found out the hard way, if you capitulate to Trump, he will only demand more.
Harvard, buoyed by the moral support of over 600 fellow institutions, has mounted a fulsome defense of academic freedom. And yes, even beleaguered Columbia has signed onto the AAC&U letter, too.
So this week, I took my own advice and penned the following letter to President Folt and USC School of Cinematic Arts Dean Elizabeth Daley. (emails: president@usc.edu and edaley@cinema.usc.edu ). I encourage fellow alumni, students, faculty, donors and parents to write their own letters, but please feel free to crib from mine. Likewise, I encourage members of the NYU, AFI and the other film schools that haven’t signed yet to write your own. I’m not old enough to remember how USC availed itself at the height of the Red Scare (like most of Hollywood, I suspect not so great). But I am old enough to have been taught by one of the more controversial members of the Hollywood Ten, director Eddie Dmytryk, whom I believe was hired by Dean Daley herself. Here’s my letter:
Dear President Folt and Dean Daley,
As a proud USC School of Cinematic Arts alumnus (MA ’94) and as someone who's supported the program over the years by screening my films on campus and by mentoring numerous USC/SCA interns, I felt this was a good time to contact both of you.
I would kindly hope that President Folt signs the American Association of Colleges & University (AAC&U) and American Academy of Arts & Sciences open letter known as "A Call for Constructive Engagement" dated April 22, 2025. Over 600 other college and university chancellors and presidents have signed the letter which is a broad call for respect for academic freedom and says "we must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses."
As I'm sure you're aware, the letter has been signed by leaders of the majority of Ivy League schools, countless top-rated state schools (including Berkeley, UCLA and University of Michigan) and most of the Top 20 private universities like Northwestern, Georgetown, MIT, Duke, Notre Dame and Carnegie Mellon.
It’s also notable that USC is in the minority of Top 25 film schools, most of which are at institutions that have presidents or chancellors that have already signed the AAC&U letter (including UCLA, Chapman, LMU, Columbia and CalArts).
This current moment is eerily reminiscent of the McCarthy era which similarly tried to impose a false purity test in the service of demagoguery and authoritarian impulse. Academia and Hollywood didn’t show a lot of strength then, and it’s too early to see what will happen now.
If film students at the Number One film school in America are learning to cave to authoritarians, what is the lesson for our film students? Don’t stand up to censorship. Don’t stand up for original ideas. Don’t stand up for freedom of expression. Don’t stand up to bullies.
Dean Daley, if you haven’t already done so, I urge you to encourage President Folt to sign the AAC&U letter. This is the time and the moment to take a stand against the new McCarthyism. I realize not every film school carries that much weight within their respective universities. But at USC in particular, the SCA brings in prestige, fame and money.
You also carry some institutional memory that might be relevant. One my favorite professors at USC was the late Edward Dmytryk, a wonderful director and educator, who was also famously and controversially one of the Hollywood Ten during the Blacklist. Eddie would be rolling over in his grave knowing that USC might be on the brink of cowering to a new form of blacklisting and authoritarian impulse brought about by the apprentice of McCarthyism architect Roy Cohn.
Film, politics and academia don’t always mix. But this is one occasion where their confluence can make a big difference. I hope USC stands up for its treasured history of academic and creative freedom.
With respect, and fight on,
Dan Mirvish
MA, 1994, USC School of Cinematic Arts