USC’s Connection to Jewish Community

It is curious indeed that “Day of the Jewish Trojan” (Dec. 11) makes no mention of Dr. Norman Topping, USC’s president from 1958 to ’70. It was he who first reached out to the L.A. Jewish community more than 40 years ago. Whatever real or imagined ethnic barriers there were, that existed during the university’s first 78 years, came down. Through his efforts, USC elected its first Jewish member of the board of trustees. Through his efforts, and his good relations with the leadership of the Los Angeles Jewish community, Hebrew Union College was invited in 1968 to move from small quarters in the Hollywood Hills to property adjacent to the USC campus and to share academic offerings. In 1975, the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles presented Topping the Judge Harry Hollzer Memorial Award “for outstanding service and fostering goodwill and understanding among religious and racial groups in the Los Angeles area.” It was also during Topping’s administration that USC was accepted as a member of the Assn. of American Universities, then consisting of the nation’s top 50 public and private universities.

Gordon Cohn

Long Beach

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Why single out USC for anti-Jewish bias in the late 1940s and 1950s? Anti-Semitic quotas were quite the norm in colleges and universities during these years. Contrary to the implication in your article, USC represented the rule rather than the exception.

Barbara Schwartz

West Hills