Scandal-hit U.S. university names new president

LOS ANGELES, March 20 (Xinhua) -- The University of Southern California (USC) announced Wednesday that it selects American female scientist Carol L. Folt as new president, who will be the first woman to lead the University in its 139-year history.

"Noted life scientist, teacher and academic leader Carol L. Folt will become the University of Southern California's 12th president," announced the USC Board of Trustees.

Folt, who will take office on July 1, will assume leadership of the University from interim President Wanda M. Austin who has led USC since August last year following a sex abuse scandal.

Folt, a recognized biologist and former chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will bring "decades of experience in academia to USC" and launch "a new era" for USC, said the University in a statement.

"She has a deep appreciation for the breadth and depth of USC's mission ... Her experience, energy and dedication to these essential elements of USC are needed now more than ever," said Rick Caruso, chair of the USC Board of Trustees, noting that Folt is the right leader at the right time.

Acknowledging that the University "is deeply troubled by a number of immediate challenges," Folt said "I assure you that we will meet these challenges together, directly, decisively and with honesty and candor."

The announcement comes days after USC was embroiled in an explosive admissions fraud scandal involving universities across the United States.

The University said last week that it will deny all applicants linked to the scandal and has begun reviewing current students and graduates who may be connected.

USC also announced last October that it had reached agreement in principle on a 215-million-U.S.-dollar class action settlement with former patients of a campus gynecologist who has been accused of sexual abuse.

The University has been sued by hundreds of current and former students over the gynecologist's alleged sexual misconduct. The complaints against Dr. George Tyndall include improperly photographing students' genitals, touching women inappropriately during pelvic exams and making sexually suggestive remarks about their bodies.

Tyndall had worked as the only full-time gynecologist at the USC student clinic for nearly 30 years.

The Los Angeles Times reported in May 2018 that some colleagues of Tyndall feared the gynecologist was targeting the University's growing population of Chinese students in recent years. Those Chinese students often had limited knowledge of the English language and American medical norms.

According to Deng Law Center in Los Angeles, three former Chinese students joined the lawsuits against the University last year. The Consulate General of China in Los Angeles expressed a serious concern after the scandal became public, requesting the University to take serious steps to investigate the issue and to protect Chinese students from such illegal acts.

USC students said they hope the new president will bring a change to the University.

"It's great that USC names the first full-time female president in school history," said Luo Ling, a Chinese graduate student at the USC.

"I hope the new president can solve the challenges we face, taking major steps to address those scandals," she told Xinhua.

A leading private research University located in Los Angeles, USC is seeing more Chinese students in recent years.

According to the University's Office of International Services, a total of 47,500 students were enrolled in the 2018-2019 academic year, including more than 5,600 from the Chinese mainland, accounting for about half of the USC's international enrollment.