LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The University of Southern California has been at the center of many scandals recently, namely the college admissions scandal and the sexual assault investigation around university gynecologist, Dr. George Tyndall.

This has left many faculty members and students questioning the leadership of the institution.

Ange-Marie Hancock Alfaro, the Dean's Professor of Gender Studies and Political Science at USC, Jody Armour, Roy P. Crocker Professor of Law at USC Gould School of Law, and student Austin Peay discussed their thoughts and feelings on how all of the bad news made them feel and what they think the university needs to do to move forward.

RELATED l Students Investigate Their School After Wave of USC Scandals

Armour, who has taught at USC for over 20 years and whose children attended there, called the news “heartbreaking.”

“I saw this great urban institution ready to tackle all these urban problems, like homelessness and gentrification and police misconduct, but this scandal was undermining its ability to do that – it was tarnishing its reputation and making it less capable of being all that it can be,” Armour said.

Peay reported on some the scandals during summer school.

“I’m still a Trojan through and through,” Peay said. “I have so much Trojan pride but what comes from that is the desire for the university to do better. And in many cases I don’t think it’s living up to its promise that its made to its students and its faculty and its staff.”

Armour said there was a common thread among all the problems over the years.

“Hubris is big on the list and often hand-in-hand with hubris is hypocrisy,” Armour said. “Do you stay true to your core principals or do you let your integrity slip in the name of, perhaps, more aggressive fundraising?”

At one point a group of 200 professors banded together to call for the ouster of former USC President C. L. Max Nikias. Alfaro Hancock is a part of that group and said it was a very hard decision to make.

Part of the letter reads:

“We lament that, time after time, the administration has admitted to its failings only after being exposed by the Los Angeles Times. We also watch with deep distress as the university's reputation is marred in the national press and in international circles.”

“It was a really difficult decision in one sense and that sense was I actually had a good working relationship with President Nikias,” Hancock said.

It was difficult for her to find out that the President, who had been very supportive of her and her career, no longer had the standing to carry on at the University.

“I did fear retaliation and being a whistleblower and a truth teller is never easy,” Hancock said.

The university has inaugurated a new president, Dr. Carol Folt, who was previously the President of the  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The trio said they have a good feeling about her leadership.

Peay said he has met and worked with Carol Folt, and thinks “she’s a step in the right direction.”

“I think she’s just what USC needs at this time. She’s coming from a university experience in which she’s shown integrity, she stood for principal even when it’s been difficult,” said Armour. “And her focus on students and making sure that students feel welcome and thrive, I think, is key here and gives me a lot of hope for the future. More than I’ve had in a couple years now.”

Let Inside the Issues know your thoughts and watch Monday through Friday at 8 and 11 p.m. on Spectrum News 1.