The University of Southern California and UCLA shocked the sports world two years ago when the schools announced they were abandoning their longtime home in the Pac-12 Conference to join a sports league based in the Midwest – the Big Ten.
That move finally becomes official Friday – a seismic shift that roiled their Pac-12 peers and left behind a digital trail of emails about what happened behind the scenes at UCLA and other Pac-12 schools. As the Big Ten welcomes its new members this week, those records obtained by USA TODAY Sports provide a glimpse into how those initial moves went down (in secrecy), how they were received by other Pac-12 university leaders (flat-footed dismay) and how some West Coast alumni and staff reacted to it (with frustration and anger).
A few of these communications previously were reported in the news media. Others were not. Many weren’t even obtained until this week after they were originally requested in July 2022, shortly after the news of the move broke on June 30, 2022.
What did the emails say?
Among other details, the emails show how then-Pac 12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff had reason to wonder if he had been ghosted on a Zoom call scheduled for that day with UCLA Chancellor Gene Block and Southern California President Carol Folt amid reports of their schools leaving. The meeting was scheduled for 3:15 p.m. After waiting until nearly 3:20, he sent this message to Block and Folt:
“Carol and Gene,’ Kliavkoff wrote. ‘I am on our zoom call scheduled for 3:15. Please let me know if you are both still able to make this zoom and if I should stay on? Thank you, George K.”
The news had caught Kliavkoff and the rest of the Pac-12 leadership by surprise, forcing some to scramble back from summer travels in order to meet online about what to do next. Not surprisingly, the records also indicate that the move was engineered in secrecy long before that, according to cryptic emails from a UCLA attorney trying to schedule in-person meetings with Block.
Together they provide some additional details and color about what happened that day and beyond in reaction to a decision that eventually led to the dismantling of the Pac-12. They were obtained from public records requests and therefore don’t include records from USC, a private school.
One month before USC, UCLA announced departure
On the morning of May 27, 2022 – about a month before the move was announced – UCLA attorney Bobby Swerdlow sent an email to Rena Torres, an assistant for UCLA chancellor Block. Swerdlow didn’t say in the email about what he wanted to talk to Block about, but the emails were provided to USA TODAY from UCLA in response to a request for records of discussions to join the Big Ten. UCLA also labeled the emails as “Big Ten Scheduling Emails” in a PDF file.
“I would like to schedule another meeting with the Chancellor,” Swerdlow wrote. “The purpose of the meeting is to update him on a pending legal matter. I mentioned this to him yesterday (and that I would work to set up this meeting) so he will know what it is about.
“The meeting should be 1 hour in duration and in-person.”
Swerdlow added that he had spoken with the meeting’s other planned participants: UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond and outside counsel from the O’Melveny law firm, where Swerdlow previously worked.
A meeting was then confirmed for June 4, 2022 at the chancellor’s residence on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.
A few days later, on June 8, 2022, Swerdlow asked for another meeting with Block.
“Rena- Thank you for your helping scheduling the meeting with the Chancellor last Saturday. I am reaching out to schedule another meeting with him later this month,” Swerdlow wrote. “The next meeting is to discuss the same legal issue. The need for this next meeting was discussed at the last one so it will not be a surprise to Gene. The next meeting will be a long one. I am hoping to block out two hours for it. The meeting should be during the last week of June, the later in the week the better (ideally 6/30 or 7/1).”
Eventually they confirmed a meeting for June 28, two days before the news broke. Swerdlow didn’t respond to a message seeking comment.
The news breaks of USC, UCLA leaving for Big Ten
A reporter for the San Jose Mercury News posted a message about it at 10:23 a.m. PT on June 30, 2022. The first internal email about it from the Pac-12 office then went out from Kliavkoff’s executive assistant at 10:27 a.m. It was addressed to the presidents, chancellors and athletic directors of the other Pac-12 universities.
“Hello all. There are rumors about schools leaving the Pac-12 Conference and I am putting together an emergency call for later today or tomorrow,” wrote Kliavkoff’s assistant, In Ja Halcomb. “I will be working with your assistants to schedule this as soon as possible.”
Kliavkoff was traveling at the time and sent a message to the Pac-12 leadership about 25 minutes later, according to the timestamps.
“Hi all,” Kliavkoff wrote. “Sorry I was not able to send this email myself. I was in a car from Montana to Idaho with limited cell coverage. I’m now back in cell coverage and available. Every indication is that the rumors of USC and UCLA defecting to the BigTen are true. When we get the emergency meeting below scheduled we will cover the media, legal and other issues. George K”
The Pac-12 scramble to react
The news came at a time of year when university administrators are out of office, making it hard to schedule an emergency meeting in response to it.
“I am on a flight to Europe at 4:30 mountain,” University of Colorado chancellor Phil DiStefano wrote to his fellow Pac-12 leaders.
Emails to Washington State University President Kirk Schulz triggered an automatic response because he was on vacation:
“I am out of the office and will not be responding to email until July 10, 2022.”
Shortly after noon, Schulz’s assistant wrote back:
“I have not been able to reach him as of yet so I have no confirmation of his ability to join.”
Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne didn’t want to wait in the meantime.
‘I suggest we have a meeting today ASAP even if not everyone can join, as the news broke and is now widely reported,’ he wrote.
Eventually a meeting was scheduled for 4 p.m. with Kliavkoff telling Pac-12 university leaders, “I have been invited to a call with (USC) President Folt and (UCLA) Chancellor Block at 3:15pm today and will report out at our call at 4pm.”
That’s the call in which Kliavkoff was kept waiting past the appointed time. It’s not clear when it actually started.
The Big Ten later that evening voted unanimously to admit USC and UCLA starting Aug. 2, 2024.
UCLA apology letter and frustration
Knowing that the news caught his colleagues by surprise, Block sent an apology letter the next day, July 1, 2022.
“In light of yesterday’s announcement that UCLA will join the Big Ten at the start of the 2024-25 season, I wanted to send you a personal note to express my sincere apologies that I was unable to share information with you before the public announcement,” Block wrote to fellow Pac-12 university executives. “I am truly sorry about this. This was an extremely difficult decision for UCLA — and personally anguishing.”
Arizona President Robert Robbins replied to Block a day later.
“Gene,’ Robbins wrote. ‘Thank you. I look forward to seeing you soon my friend. Robert”
But frustration and disappointment had already started to flare up in emails on June 30. An emailer identified only as “Stevie” wrote a one-word message that evening to Robbins:
“shocking”
Robbins replied 10 minutes later.
“All about the almighty dollar,” Robbins wrote, referencing the motive behind the move for UCLA and USC – to chase more revenue and exposure in the Big Ten.
On July 4, 2022, an Arizona alumnus and faculty member at Arizona’s School of Art even felt compelled to write Robbins with his own thoughts about how to deal with the loss of USC and UCLA.
“Is it possible to suggest that we cancel all sporting events with both schools going forward?” the faculty member wrote. “Maybe the whole remaining schools in the PAC-12 (10) do the same before the beginning of the school year?”
‘This is outrageous and a disgrace’
Block’s inbox got slammed with its own barrage of criticism shortly after he announced the move to the UCLA community in an email June 30, 2022. His message said this was “exciting news” that came after “thoughtful deliberation” and “ensures that we remain a leader in college athletics for generations to come.”
A UCLA employee in the registrar’s office replied to it less than 20 minutes later.
“Careful and thoughtful consideration which did not involve the UCLA community and is a complete shock to the whole country,” the employee wrote. “100+ years of conference history thrown away. This is outrageous and a disgrace.”
A UCLA alum and medical doctor in Utah named Sean Mulvihill wrote Block the next day.
“Legacy and geography, and the relationship with alums is more important, in my view, than tv money,” Mulvihill wrote. “A shameful decision, hopefully not irrevocable.”
In hindsight, the announced departures of USC and UCLA on June 30, 2022, spelled doom for the Pac-12. A year later, the 10 other Pac-12 teams were unable to land a future media rights deal good enough to keep the league together. after losing the Los Angeles market.
Eight more teams ditched the league last year for the Big 12, Big Ten and Atlantic Coast Conferences, leaving only two teams in the Pac-12 today – Oregon State and Washington State.
It was all set in motion two years ago. On Friday, USC’s and UCLA’s defection to the Big Ten finally become official. Washington and Oregon also are officially joining the league Friday.
Earlier this week, USA TODAY Sports followed up with Mulvihill and asked him how he feels about the move two years after he sent that email to the UCLA chancellor.
‘I understand the rationale for the change, but as a native Los Angeleno, I am sad to see the demise of the Pac 12,’ Mulvihill wrote in an email. ‘And as a former college athlete, I am also sad to see money rather than school spirit and rivalries be the driving force in decision making.’
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. E-mail: bschrotenb@usatoday.com