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From 'Song Girls' to 'Song Leaders'--USC's famed squad has changed its name
USC Annenberg Media ^ | October 15, 2024 | Gricelda Gallardo & Jason Frank

Posted on 11/08/2024 5:27:35 PM PST by Fiji Hill

As the USC Trojans football team battles it out game after game, the famous cardinal and gold pom-poms and white sweaters stand out on the sidelines.

The formerly-named USC Song Girls have spent the better part of 50 years cheering on the Trojans and lifting spectator spirits. Formed in 1967 after USC voted to allow women to join spirit groups, their new name, Song Leaders, reflects a desire to be more inclusive.

There was no announcement or official statement, but USC Song’s website was recently updated to reflect the change.

Not everyone was happy about it. Former Fox News reporter Megyn Kelly has a producer who used to be a Song Girl, Lauren LaBruna. Kelly spoke about the name change on her show a few days ago and she didn’t hold back.

“Let’s watch how this works for them, because when you erase women and you erase girls, you’re playing with fire. You’re setting us down a path that is very, very dangerous for women in America when you are not able to say what a woman is or what a girl is without finding those terms offensive enough that they must be scrubbed right out of existence,” Kelly wrote.

Despite Kelly’s distaste for the move, some like the new name. Song alumna Marisa D’Amico, who was on the squad in the 1980s, feels “Song Leaders” is more fitting for a squad that’s been dubbed the “Ambassadors of the University of Southern California.”

“To me, it doesn’t bother me at all,” D’Amico said. “I think, you know, when I was there, we did not have the cheer girls that are in the end zone or cheer persons. I actually like the term ‘song leader’ a lot better than song persons, ‘cause that really sounds like you’re stretching to be, you know, equitable.”

This isn’t the first controversy USC Song has been involved with regarding gender equity. A Title IX investigation found that former song coach Lori Nelson, who resigned in 2020, body-shamed and harassed dancers on the squad.

“She was fat shaming people, allegedly,” D’Amico said. “So there’s just been a lot of scandal...So I think it’s the university attempt to make things right.”

Nelson denied the allegations, saying she was discriminated against.

The name change has also led to a petition aimed at “protecting the Song Girl legacy” that seeks to revert “Song Leaders” back to “Song Girls.” The petition was begun by Bianca Bao, the mother of a former Song Girl captain.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: California
KEYWORDS: california; songgirls; usc; wokeness
USC, a school founded by Methodists, resisted the cultural revolution of the 1960s but began moving left in 1980. It has now gone completely woke.
1 posted on 11/08/2024 5:27:35 PM PST by Fiji Hill
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To: Fiji Hill

Aside from “wokeness” issues, the name “Song Leaders” is misleading because it sounds as though they are leading songs. However, they only perform by dancing to music.


2 posted on 11/08/2024 5:31:59 PM PST by Fiji Hill
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To: Fiji Hill
The ongoing leftist jihad to erase girls and women.

3 posted on 11/08/2024 5:32:50 PM PST by Governor Dinwiddie ( O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious, and His mercy endureth forever. — Psalm 106)
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To: Fiji Hill

So sad and Marisa is an idiot.


4 posted on 11/08/2024 5:33:51 PM PST by JZelle
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To: Fiji Hill

Trannies and faigelehs take over. It’s the Woke thing to do! Fight on for USC...


5 posted on 11/08/2024 5:35:14 PM PST by jjotto ( Blessed are You LORD, who crushes enemies and subdues the wicked.)
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To: Fiji Hill

Nice legs....

6 posted on 11/08/2024 5:36:22 PM PST by Paladin2
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To: Paladin2

Not Guilty! Not Guilty! Not Guilty!


7 posted on 11/08/2024 5:42:31 PM PST by EvilCapitalist (Pets are no substitute for children)
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To: Fiji Hill
Let’s watch how this works for them...

It's only a matter of time.


8 posted on 11/08/2024 5:47:55 PM PST by philman_36 (Pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty and supped with infamy. Benjamin Franklin)
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To: Fiji Hill

“Let’s watch how this works for them, because when you erase women and you erase girls, you’re playing with fire. You’re setting us down a path that is very, very dangerous for women in America”

If all this crap ends with repeal of the 19th Amendment, it will have been worth it.


9 posted on 11/08/2024 6:20:39 PM PST by BobL
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To: Fiji Hill

I remember watching the USC Song Girls through binoculars at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1, 1973, I think they were playing Ohio State. I was 22 years old. O.J. Simpson was sitting on the bench with the players watching the game.


10 posted on 11/08/2024 8:07:32 PM PST by Inyo-Mono
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To: Paladin2

Song Birds! And no dudes!


11 posted on 11/08/2024 8:27:16 PM PST by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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To: Fiji Hill

Might be difficult for ex students at many now “woke” universities to sever just about all ties with former U’s.

I stopped donating to my ex schools long time ago. Not going to support delusional teachers or students.


12 posted on 11/08/2024 8:31:13 PM PST by Getready (Wisdom is more valuable than gold and harder to find.)
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To: Fiji Hill

Seen a few pictures of the new “song people”... doesn’t look very inspiring or healthy.


13 posted on 11/08/2024 8:34:39 PM PST by Getready (Wisdom is more valuable than gold and harder to find.)
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To: Inyo-Mono

I didn’t attend the ‘73 Rose Bowl game to see the Trojans win—I was struggling through my senior year at Occidental College—but I went to the next one, after I had begun graduate work at USC. The Trojans lost that rematch with Ohio State, but they won the spectacular rubber match in 1975, which I also attended.


14 posted on 11/08/2024 8:45:28 PM PST by Fiji Hill
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To: Fiji Hill

How many men who think they are women are on the squad?


15 posted on 11/09/2024 1:29:19 AM PST by minnesota_bound (Need more money to buy everything now)
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