On Wednesday, February 18, Sheila Sofian was called into a 2:00 p.m. meeting with Associate Dean Michael Renov. When she arrived, she says, the tone shifted almost immediately.
“When I arrived, he excused himself, and when he returned, he was accompanied by SCA Dean Elizabeth Daley. I immediately knew what this was about (we always suspected they wanted to shut us down).”
What Sofian says she was told in that room was straightforward: USC’s School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) would be shutting down the Expanded Animation: Research + Practice program — known as XA. The closure is set to take effect June 30, 2026…