She Goes the Extra Mile for USC Athletes

South Pasadena resident Mimi Butler, above, has earned the prestigious Legend of Troy Award at the University of Southern California.

The Legend of Troy is presented by the USC Athletic Department in recognition of and appreciation for an individual whose impact on the Trojan athletic program and the university has advanced the mission of USC Athletics. Butler began working in the athletic department at USC in 1995. At that time, she was the only learning specialist, working with high profile student athletes who needed assistance transitioning from high school to University level work.

Over the years, the learning specialist staff grew as did the size of the USC student-athlete population. In 2000, Mimi developed the Trojans’ current directed studies program to meet the growing needs of student-athletes. In conjunction with the mission of Student Athletes Academic Services (SAAS), the goal of the directed studies program is to support, develop and prepare the student athletes to become self-regulated learners and to facilitate their continued academic success at USC. Today the staff at SAAS has expanded to include six full-time learning specialists and Mimi is the director of Academic Support and the Directed Studies Program.

She enjoys working with student athletes and helping them discover their learning strengths and academic potential.  Outside of her life at USC, Mimi likes to spend time with her friends, her husband Joe, and her children Erin and Jack. Above, Butler is joined by former USC player Antwaun Woods, now with the Tennessee Titans.