‘Pure, Unadulterated Rage And Grief,’ USC Students, Staff In Shock As University Shuts Down Its Expanded Animation Program

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.

“They told me they were shutting down the XA program and that I could move to the Production Division. The non-tenured faculty would be fired. I tried to defend the program, but it was immediately clear that it was to no avail, and they had already made the decision. Apparently, there was some committee of chairs and former chairs that assisted with the decision.”

Adjunct Assistant Professor Einar Baldvin says he learned about the decision the same way many adjuncts did: not through administration, but through students.

“We were not alerted about the decision by the higher-ups at the cinema department. I actually found out directly from one of my students right before the class I teach, right after they themselves had just been informed… It’s an entirely top-down decision that they claim to have made only after thorough review, but no one talked to any of us during this process. I personally had no idea — not the slightest hint — that any of this was coming.”

Sofian says that once she realized adjuncts hadn’t been notified — and were starting to hear about it from students — she tried to close the gap herself.

“When I learned that the administration had not notified the adjuncts and they were starting to hear about it from the students, I called an emergency Zoom meeting with all the adjuncts on Thursday afternoon,” she wrote in an email.

Not everyone could make it, she added, “including Einar, who is in a different time zone.” She tried to reach out individually to those who missed it, but “word spread pretty quickly,” meaning several adjuncts still learned about it secondhand.

Sofian describes XA as an effort to push animation beyond a single pipeline — artistically, technically, and ethically.

“The Expanded Animation: Research + Practice (XA) program explores the ever-evolving field of animation. XA strives to expand the meaning of the art form and establish new ways to perceive, understand, and express the world around us.”

She frames it as a curriculum that moved freely between “fine art animation, installation, documentary, dreams and consciousness, emotion and gesture, animation for AI, robotics and virtual humans, sound design, and science visualization,” while asking bigger questions about responsibility and where the medium is headed:

“We ask — how does animation penetrate these fields? What is the future of animation? How can we apply our art practice in an ethical and socially responsible manner?”

Sofian says the school framed the decision as a financial one. “They claim it was a business decision and that the program was not financially viable. We disagree.”

Baldvin describes a process that, from an adjunct perspective, felt like being bypassed. “We are vulnerable since we have a contract on a per-semester basis, so we can be terminated without any reason or compensation. The legality of that I understand, but it is disrespectful on a human level…”

He adds that what he heard informally matched what Sofian was told formally. “I spoke to other faculty members and the students, and the reasons given are economic. They claim the department is not ‘economically viable,’ even though I personally do not believe it.”

And what does the USC School of Cinematic Arts have to say about it all?

“The university regularly reviews the curriculum of all of its degree programs to offer exceptional educational opportunities for our students in an evolving environment. The USC School of Cinematic Arts is regrettably ending the Expanded Animation Research + Practice program due to declines in enrollment. Current students will be supported in the John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts and other SCA programs to complete their degrees.”

Sofian says current students will be redirected within SCA. “As far as I know, they are not being offered any compensation. My understanding is that the MFA-2 students would go to Hench, and the MFA-3 students have a choice of going to Hench or other divisions in SCA.”

Baldvin says the offer to transfer doesn’t address what students believed they were enrolling in.

“The students will be offered to join other departments. Of course, it’s the least the school can do, but we should keep in mind (and the students have stated this themselves) that while USC is a prestigious school, the students chose this department specifically because of the unique culture and philosophy it has to offer.”

One current student, NamQuyên (Q) Võ Lê Sugiyama (XA MFA-2), describes the news in physical terms.

“A combination of feeling pure, unadulterated rage and grief on behalf of how XA faculty, staff, and students were treated,” she says. “I don’t think I’ve dropped this many swears or lost this much water weight from crying in a long time.”

Asked whether there were whispers this might happen, she says, “None. We were all caught off guard, though in hindsight, the speed and cruelty of the announcement seemed planned.”

She adds: “There has been no consideration about how remaining students will complete their program if the classes and faculty no longer exist.”

Dina Garatly (Expanded Animation class of 2024) says what drew her to XA wasn’t only a toolset, but a way of thinking.

“Expanded Animation was not a conventional animation track. It challenged us to think beyond format, beyond pipeline, beyond industry norms.” She adds, “We were not simply learning how to animate. We were learning how to question the medium itself… Expanded Animation was where the future of storytelling was being prototyped.”

Looking back, she describes the program as both ambitious and personal. “The support I received from the XA faculty went far beyond academics… That was not just mentorship. That was a community. It feels like the loss of a future-facing creative laboratory and a family.”

Shengwei Zhou (2024 XA alumni) also describes shock, then a longer grief response. “I never heard any whispers from anyone before the current students got called to attend that meeting.”

Zhou adds: “I was crying all day long and couldn’t fall asleep for over four days after I heard this heartbreaking news. I was extremely shocked at first, and then very angry. Now it’s grieving.” Zhou calls XA “my spiritual home” and says, “The SCA administration terminated my own home.”

In Zhou’s view, what XA offered can’t simply be substituted. “XA is a very, very unique and magical program. It could NOT be replaced by any other division or program in L.A..”

To Baldvin, the closure connects to a longer institutional tension at USC between commercial training and auteur-driven research.

“I can’t speak much to the inner workings of the school — their claims of economic viability, etc. — because this is really out of my scope as an adjunct to verify and assess, but I think there is a broader picture that needs to be addressed.”

“There has always been a tension at USC between commercial work and artistic, auteur-driven work, and a pressure from the top to turn the animation department into more of a trade school… pumping out workers for the film industry,” Baldvin says.

In his view, the creation of XA was part of that history. “It’s ultimately what led to the creation of XA as a separate department that is more focused on auteur-driven animation and experimentation.”

Baldvin argues that decisions justified through “economic viability” can obscure the deeper question of what universities are for.

“Focus on economic viability may be a decent short-term survival skill, but in the long run, it is values that matter — especially in a university,” he says.

“We are entering, or have entered, a new age of machines that threaten to swallow everything,” Baldvin continues, “and that’s not just jobs, but the way we operate as human beings and what we value. There is a great risk of losing the human element, where systems start behaving coldly and ruthlessly, focusing on efficiency above what is right. I think it’s exactly what’s happening here at USC now, and this, coupled with the kind of techno-fascism that is dominant politically in the U.S. now, is disturbing.”

Here is the full letter that was sent out to staff and students on Monday:

Dear Friends,

It is with deep sadness that we share that the Expanded Animation (XA) program at USC will be discontinued, effective June 30, 2026.

In just four years, XA built an extraordinary record of accomplishment. Our students earned a Student Academy Award and received major support including a $350,000 SBIR/STTR Artistically Enhanced AI for Humanizing Robots grant, a $135,000 USC Research Collaborations Fund grant, a $25,000 Annenberg grant, and a $24,000 NVIDIA Academic Hardware Grant. We established ongoing summer residencies with Lowell Observatory and the Wrigley Institute, and our alumni films have received multiple international awards. Most importantly, we cultivated a bold, collaborative community dedicated to expanding the language and limits of animation.

Despite these achievements, the university has determined that the program is not financially viable. While we respectfully disagree with this conclusion, the decision is final.

The program’s non-tenured faculty appointments have concluded, adjunct and independent contractor agreements have ended, and staff positions have been eliminated. Tenured faculty have been offered reassignment or retirement options. Current students will be guided to complete their degrees through the John C. Hench Division of Animation & Digital Arts and other divisions within the school.

This is an immensely difficult moment for the XA faculty, staff, students, and alumni who have poured their creativity, intellect, and care into building this program. I am profoundly proud of what we created together in such a short time.

Expanded Animation was always about experimentation, imagination, and courage. That spirit will continue in the work our students and alumni carry into the world.

With appreciation and solidarity,

XA Faculty