Letter to the USC community, May 16, 2018
Update regarding the former physician at USC’s student health center
Yesterday, President Nikias sent a letter with a link to a fact summary and a reporting site to more than 350,000 current and former students, alumni, parents, faculty, and staff. He wrote to inform them of the facts we knew—and to provide resources for reporting concerns—regarding the former physician at USC’s student health center. Media reports have provided some new information and details that were not previously shared with the university in our interviews and investigations.
As of late this afternoon, we had received 85 responses to our hotline and website, about half of which were anonymous. The responses were largely from former students, who provided information on their experiences with Dr. Tyndall. We recognize that it takes a great deal of courage to come forward, even anonymously, to discuss this very personal matter. We are grateful for each individual’s willingness to help us with this matter.
We are taking great care to respond to all persons individually, and to make sure that everyone is receiving our full support, as well as our compassion and understanding. Every response— whether identified or anonymous—is extremely important to us, and is being carefully addressed to determine the appropriate referral or follow up. We are actively seeking all facts.
To this end, we continue to encourage those with additional information to contact the university. Our dedicated hotline (888) 961-9273 and website (usc.mycompliancereport.com) will remain available for individuals to report any information or concerns related to Dr. Tyndall. Additionally, we have counselors available for current or former students. These counselors can be reached at (213) 740-7711 on the University Park Campus or (323) 442-5631 on our Health Sciences Campus.
We will continue to provide updates at https://pressroom.usc.edu/statements-about-student-health-center
We want to reiterate that each individual report is being handled with sensitivity. We care deeply about how this matter has affected each person in our community, and we are dedicated to providing the most compassionate support we can.