How cool is this? You get accepted into USC and then receive an email with the subject line reading “A message from dean Erica Muhl.” In the email is a link which leads to a video message, to which rap legend and business mogul, Dr. Dre, with Interscope Geffen A&M Records chairman, Jimmy Iovine, welcome you to the University.
“The Trojan family is excited to offer you a spot in the class of 2018,” says Dre (aka Andre Young), as Iovine adds, “We think you’re going to do great here.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, a pre-recorded video message was sent to newly-admitted students of the USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy for Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation.
The longtime friends, collaborators and business partners established the program after their $70 million donation last year and are now welcoming its inaugural class this fall.
Applicants to their degree program had to submit a short outlining an idea for an original product, service or system.
To give USC students “a unique undergraduate experience,” the undergraduate curriculum focuses on four areas: arts and entrepreneurship; technology, design and marketability; concept and business platforms; and creating a prototype.
According to LA Times and The Hollywood Reporter, “The program will emphasize technology, and also include faculty from the USC Marshall School of Business, Roski School of Fine Arts, Viterbi School of Engineering and Thornton School of Music. A selected group of students will be offered an integrated, four‑year interdisciplinary course of study capped off in the final year with an experiential setting called the “Garage,” which will challenge the students with a year-long project. The academy’s inaugural class will enroll 25 students in fall 2014.”
[THR]
