Our history
The Trojan Democrats have a proud and storied legacy at the University of Southern California, with roots stretching back nearly to the university’s founding.
Early Beginnings - Organization History
The Trojan Democrats was first recorded on USC’s campus in 1912 when Trojans rallied around the candidacy of New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson for President. In the 1920s, Trojans once again organized, but this time to show support for the 1920 Democratic ticket of Governor James Cox of Ohio and Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and future President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
1940s and 1950s
However, it wasn’t until the late 1940s and 1950s that the club rose to prominence on campus. The club’s success during this era is largely credited to a handful of members who would go on to define California politics. These members included Jesse M. Unruh (left), who went on to become Speaker of the California State Assembly and Joe Cerrell (right), a political consultant to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson.
1960s and 1970s
While the Club has changed names many times over the course of the decades (the Wilsonites, Cox-Roosevelt Club, Trojan Democrats, USC College Democrats, then back to Trojan Democrats) it has consistently been a force for positive political activism on this campus. As a result, USC has drawn many notable figures to speak, including then-Senator John F. Kennedy, President Gerald Ford, then-Senator Kamala Harris and President Barack Obama.
In recent years, the Trojan Democrats have fought to elect Democrats up and down the ballot. Though USC carries a stereotype of being a center-right campus, there have been more registered Democrats than Republicans on campus since the mid-1990s.
Now
The Trojan Democrats hold the distinction of being the largest student organization in USC’s history. This achievement builds on a legacy of student engagement that began with our then-sister organization, Students for Barack Obama, later known as Trojans for Obama, which became the university’s largest club when it was founded in 2008.