USC Dornsife senior aims to be a force for global good
His name conjures visions of a dashing private investigator or a trend-setting rock musician. But senior Trenton Stone is much more than either of those.
A Daniels Fund Scholar and Warren Bennis Scholar, Stone is pursuing bachelor’s degrees in international relations (global business) and philosophy at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
He’s also the first openly gay person to be elected student body president, winning the votes and confidence of his peers last year at age 19.
He was a USC Global Fellow, and as a director of the USC service-learning organization Los Angeles Community Impact, Stone volunteered his time to help nonprofits that focus on food security and sustainability.
He has also researched comparative activism at the University of Cambridge, and he represented the United States at an international business competition in Malaysia in 2018.
The latter effort in particular may lend itself to the latest achievement on his list: Stone is one of two USC students — and among just 152 from a global application pool of more than 3,600 — to be selected by the Schwarzman Scholars program this year. He plans to use the scholarship to foster more effective partnerships between the U.S. and China on sustainable economic development as he pursues a master’s degree in global affairs at Tsinghua University’s Schwarzman College in Beijing.
“China’s role in foreign aid and investment is rapidly growing but takes a very different approach than western nations. At the same time, the U.S., in particular, has been withdrawing from its international commitments,” he said. “It is imperative to understand how these changing roles impact lower-income populations and the broader international community.”
Once he completes the year-long Schwarzman program, Stone hopes to use what he’s learned to work for international development groups, earn law and business degrees “and play a key role in building socio-economic relationships across nations,” he said.
Stone grew up in Grand Junction, Colorado, though his family moved to Salt Lake City before his senior year in high school. Like many high school students nearing graduation, he was unsure of where he wanted to attend college.
“I wasn’t sure whether I wanted something big or small, East Coast or West Coast,” he said. Ultimately, USC had what he needed to help him develop into the leader he hopes to be.
“What drew me to USC was its deep but broad expertise across subject areas, a diverse and engaged student body, the beautiful city in which the school resides and endless opportunities to pursue my passions,” he said.
“My experiences at USC and elsewhere, and the resources I’m fortunate enough to have, put me in a position that, I think, demands I be a global leader for good, for equity, and to take part in finding solutions to tough problems facing our communities.”
Stone is one of just eight USC students to earn a Schwarzman Scholarship since the program’s 2016 inaugural class. He will begin his Schwarzman studies in August 2021.