CONTINUING THE TRAVELER TRADITION

In 2004, Bill and Nadine Tilley donated $2 million to the Traveler Mascot Program to ensure the survival of the Traveler tradition for future generations of Trojans. Tilley, a USC alum who graduated in 1961, is a long-time supporter of both academic and athletic USC activities.

The Tilley’s donation has helped pay for a number of Traveler appearances, including the past four trips to the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl as well as to the 2005 Orange Bowl.

“Mr. Tilley’s generous donation allowed us to go to the National Championship a few years ago,” said Asman. “The fans didn’t know Traveler was coming, and when we walked into the stadium to do the opening run, the stadium erupted…you would have thought we’d won the game, all because [the] mascot, icon and tradition that gives them so much power made the 3000-mile trip across the United States to be at the game.”

The donation guarantees that future Travelers will be Spanish Andalusian horses; Nadine Tilley trains and breeds Spanish Andalusians at her family’s ranch in Hemet, California.

The Tilleys also commissioned artist LeRoy Neiman, known for his brilliantly colored paintings and screen prints of athletes and sporting events, to paint 300 serigraphs of Traveler and the Trojan football team to be sold to alumni to raise funds for the Traveler Mascot Program in 2007.