NEWPORT BEACH, COSTA MESA : USC to Probe Mascot Use by Candidate

USC officials said Tuesday they would investigate a campaign mailer in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District board race that uses USC colors and a likeness of the university’s mascot, Tommy Trojan.

The election committee for candidate Jo Ellen Allen sent out a last-minute letter over the weekend asking hundreds of USC alumni in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa to vote for her in the race against incumbent Sherry Loofbourrow.

The letter and envelope are red and gold, bear the Tommy Trojan symbol, and say, “Attention: USC Alumnae.” At the bottom of the letter, it states the mailer is paid for by the Committee to Elect Jo Ellen Allen.

Martha Harris, vice president of public relations for USC, said that although university officials have not yet seen a copy of Allen’s mailer, it was not appropriate for anyone to use a university symbol for private or political purposes.

Sherry Throell, vice president of alumni relations, said the university never releases names and addresses of university alumni to the public or political candidates. But until officials review a copy of the campaign literature, Harris said she could not comment on what action, if any, will be taken by the university.

Some alumni who received the mailer said they were outraged by it and have made formal complaints to the university because they thought it implied the university was endorsing Allen.

David Henley, a former editor of the Daily Trojan and now a professor of journalism at Cal State Pomona said he was “distressed that this political mailer attempts to make the unsuspecting citizen believe the USC organization is supporting her.”

Allen has denied that the mailer was inappropriate and said that it in no way suggests USC is endorsing her. She said her campaign committee did not use any university mailing lists and that the complaints come from a “lunatic fringe” determined to undermine her candidacy.