Underground Trojans, founded by a formerly incarcerated student and allies, is the oldest post-prison education advocacy group at the University of Southern California (USC). The mission of Underground Trojans is twofold: to challenge stigma and discrimination associated with past criminal convictions and build a "Prison-to-School Pipeline" through the recruitment, retention, advocacy, and wellness of formerly incarcerated and justice-impacted students in higher education.

 

Underground Trojans has focused on reshaping narratives of incarceration through the success stories of formerly incarcerated and justice-impacted students. Some of the group's activities have included organizing lectures, panel discussions, book drives, roundtables, film screenings, writing contests, open-mic nights, and other community-university collaborative projects that emphasize the potential for formerly incarcerated and justice-impacted students,  to grow and succeed through higher education.