By Matthew Kredell
Tay Vaughn browsed through the USC Catalogue trying to pick a major. He figured he would go with architecture, as that was what he saw himself doing as a career. Then he briefly flirted with the idea of music before realizing that wasn’t really for him. Finally, he came to the major of policy, planning and development, and it struck him that this was what he needed – an area of study that could enhance a career in architecture but allow greater flexibility to explore other directions.
It turned out to be a good decision. Vaughn served as valedictorian on May 15 at the commencement ceremony for the USC Price School of Public Policy.
“It provides a very strong tool kit that can be applied to many different careers,” said Vaughn, who had a concentration of sustainable urban planning and minored in architecture. “I think that having a background in planning is a valuable foundation that will supplement future studies in architecture.”
Vaughn explored his passion for traveling while at USC Price. In the summer of 2013, he interned with an architectural firm in Bangkok, Thailand. His work largely focused on creating environmental impact reports, which had much less stringent requirements than those in California. Nearly every weekend, he took the opportunity to travel to nearby countries, including Vietnam, South Korea, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and China.
The next summer, he had his favorite course at USC, going to Detroit to contribute suggestions for a master plan being prepared by the city that faces a monumental urban revitalization challenge. His work on how best to make use of Detroit’s vacant land is currently being displayed on a wall in the hallway of Lewis Hall.
Other favorite courses for Vaughn were Associate Professor Liz Falletta’s “Designing Livable Communities” and Associate Professor Lisa Schweitzer’s “Urban Context for Policy and Planning,” which he took as a freshman and credited for inspiring him to be a leader in class.
“He’s always going above and beyond what is needed,” said Assistant Professor Michael Thom, who led the Detroit course. “When we wanted to display some of our Detroit work in Lewis Hall, he took the lead in designing the exhibit. Instead of taking time off this summer, he’s conducting a four-unit directive research project on the Olympics, and rather than do it from Los Angeles, he is visiting the cities. He has a tremendous work ethic.”
Vaughn has a full-time job lined up working for Walt Disney Imagineering in Glendale, beginning July 6. He will be part of a project management team that oversees the design and implementation of attractions, accommodations and entertainment at Disney properties in Florida.
Over the next two months, he will be taking in more countries than the people on the “It’s a Small World” ride. For a research project on how Olympic stadiums can be designed for a better transition to sustainable use once the Games are over, he will visit Athens, Beijing, London, Rio de Janeiro and Sydney, as well as Atlanta. To fund the six-continent trek, he received a Student Undergraduate Research Experience grant from USC Price and raised an additional $9,000 on the crowdfunding website Indiegogo.
“It’s a really ambitious project with a budget that is pretty large,” said Vaughn, who will start at Disney the week after he returns from the trip and then work on writing the report in his spare time. “I was lucky to get a lot of support from family and friends, and it should be an amazing experience. Many Olympic stadiums, like with Beijing, become a black hole after the Games. I’ll be looking at how to get a stadium ready for the Olympics and what changes might happen to convert stadiums to something more useful so they are not vacant.”
But first, there’s the matter of getting up in front of his graduating class and making the speech. Even though he has a grade point average above 3.9, he never expected to be valedictorian.
“To tell you the truth, it was a big surprise to me,” Vaughn said. “I was proud to be working hard and doing well, but it wasn’t a goal of mine. I was just interested in doing the best I could. I’m very proud to be able to represent the Price School.”