Diversity Initiatives
In an effort to work with an industry that is eager to expand its talent pool to include underrepresented ethnicities and women, the School of Cinematic Arts has undertaken several initiatives to shape the dynamics of tomorrow’s industry leaders. These projects and partners include:
• Bill and Camille Cosby—underwriters of the writing workshop series
for aspiring African-American screenwriters and supporters of the Bill Cosby Summer Youth Institute for Film & Television, an eight-week summer program for local high school students enrolled in USC’s Neighborhood Academic Initiative.
• Electronic Arts Inc.—establishers of the Electronic Arts Endowed Scholarship Fund used to support, encourage and educate new voices within the interactive entertainment industry and assist students whose work in videogame development will further the interests of underrepresented populations in the interactive entertainment industry.
• The In2TV/Freddie Prinze Endowed Fund for Student Support—a gift from AOL/Warner Bros. that provides scholarship assistance to students who help support, encourage and educate alternative views in television and build upon the legacy of Freddie Prinze.
• The Courtney and Steven J. Ross Fellowship—scholarship assistance for economically disadvantaged women students.
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The NAACP/CBS Fellowship—awarded to students who further the interests of underrepresented men and
women in the entertainment industry. Recipients are also mentored by CBS executives throughout their academic program and participate in an internship at the NAACP Hollywood Bureau.• The Gary Cooper Endowed Fund for Student Support—established by Cooper’s daughter Maria Cooper-Janis in honor of her father’s passionate
interest in American Indians, their culture, life, beliefs, and traditions. This fund furnishes financial assistance for American Indian students.
