President Beong-Soo Kim Helps Start the Holiday Season
USC Interim President Beong-Soo Kim joined over 2,000 Trojans to celebrate the USC Caruso Catholic Center’s Tree Lighting Celebration and officially light up the season.
By Anthony Bottino ‘26
Every year, Our Savior Parish & USC Caruso Catholic Center hosts its Christmas Tree Lighting and Anniversary Mass commemorating the Church's dedication. The event traditionally features a special guest to light the celebratory tree. For the 13th annual lighting, that honor went to USC’s interim president, Beong-Soo Kim.
Kim was welcomed to the stage by Fr. Matthew Wheeler, Pastor of Our Savior Parish, as well as the President and Vice President of USC’s Caruso Catholic Center E-Board. Before lighting the tree, President Kim addressed the hundreds of Trojans gathered to ring in the holiday season. He kept his remarks brief, sprinkling in a lighthearted joke about Fr. Matt’s No-Shave November beard, and spoke about the importance of practicing one’s faith while at USC.
“We can’t develop humans as a whole without attending to that spiritual dimension,” Kim said. “This is a moment to celebrate faith, family, community, friendship, and hope.”
After his speech, the lights dimmed and President Kim led the crowd in a ten-second countdown. With his cue, the tree illuminated the center, and artificial snow fell from the roof, officially ushering in the holiday season.
Although this event has been a long-standing tradition, this was President Kim’s first time attending, and he made clear how meaningful the celebration was to him and to USC.
“We were spilling out outside the church, and it was just a really beautiful ceremony,” Kim said. “A wonderful opportunity to take stock of where we are in the year, but also to look forward to celebrations in the next month and into the new year.”
President Kim also emphasized the importance of balancing faith and academics and noted how the Caruso Catholic Center epitomizes what USC is all about.
“It’s also just a beautiful representation of what makes USC so special,” Kim said. “USC has always been a place that not only tolerates but truly embraces the spiritual tradition and the spiritual dimension of student life.”
