"Ours is a campus of tolerance and civility," USC President Harris Pastides said in a statement last summer.
The two current presumptive presidential nominees took to Twitter on Thursday and appeared to stray from the second half of that standard.
On the same day she received an endorsement from President Barack Obama, Democratic presumptive presidential nominee Hillary Clinton sparked a flame war via a tweet against her expected opponent in November, businessman Donald Trump.
The fracas began with a tweet from Trump, who has been widely praised and often criticized for his stream-of-consciousness Twitter feed this election. He has frequently used the platform to attack political enemies, such as South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.
The people of South Carolina are embarrassed by Nikki Haley!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2016
On Thursday, Trump slammed Obama's endorsement of Clinton shortly after it was announced.
Obama just endorsed Crooked Hillary. He wants four more years of Obama—but nobody else does!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2016
Five minutes later, Clinton hit back with a tweet that set the internet on fire.
Delete your account. https://t.co/Oa92sncRQY
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 9, 2016
The hashtag #DeleteYourAccount quickly became the number one trending topic in the United States. The online missile launched by Clinton soon threatened to overshadow the day's earlier news, which included a meeting between Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and President Obama at the White House as Sanders winds down his presidential campaign.
Trump couldn't resist tweeting a clapback.
How long did it take your staff of 823 people to think that up--and where are your 33,000 emails that you deleted? https://t.co/gECLNtQizQ
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2016
Other politicians soon weighed in, such as former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner, who famously resigned from Congress after it was revealed he sent lewd messages to women on Twitter other than his wife, Clinton aide Huma Abedin.
Too late for some of us. https://t.co/NgyzWsP9tN
— (((Anthony Weiner))) (@anthonyweiner) June 9, 2016
It was unclear early Thursday evening whether Clinton planned to immediately continue her Twitter assault on Trump.