USC Briefly Makes the Grades

An Intermediate Spanish 3 class at Los Angeles Trade Tech, a community college near USC, has become the latest embarrassing episode for the Trojans. According to the Los Angeles Times, the Spanish class was not even going to be offered by Trade Tech until offensive lineman Kyle Williams and linebacker Dallas Sartz began recruiting other athletes to pressure the community college into offering the five-unit class last summer. The five-week course, like many other community college courses, would qualify for transfer credits to USC and fulfill undergraduate language requirements. The efforts by Williams and Sartz proved successful, and 20 athletes and one notable Song Girl — Natalie Nelson, who became famous for the above photo of her apparently cheering for a Texas score in the 2006 Rose Bowl — were among the 25 students enrolled. The Times reports that of the 25-student class, 20 students received a grade of A and five received a grade of B. The grade distribution set off an investigation at USC, and officials notified students late last year that transfer credits of the Spanish 3 class from Trade Tech were rescinded and disallowed. Song Girl Nelson, for one, defended the class, telling the Times that USC's national prominence — "being at the top" — makes its athletes easy targets for criticism. "Obviously, someone assumed something was wrong with all those players getting good grades and ... others jumping on the bandwagon," she said. "But I saw those athletes do the work."