Thousands of seats, hundreds of tables and tens of tents spread across USC's many quads await the company of the estimated 10,000 people who are expected to arrive Friday morning at the university's campus for the inauguration of its 11th president, Chrysostomos L. "Max" Nikias.

The USC Board of Trustees unanimously appointed Nikias, then the university's provost, to succeed Steven Sample as president in March. Nikias' term offically began Aug. 3, following Sample's retirement. Sample served 19 years as president; Nikias was his right-hand man for the final five.

Friday's ceremony, set to begin at 10 a.m., marks Nikias' formal swearing-in as president. A luncheon will be held after the ceremony at noon.

The L.A. Times profiled the 58-year-old Greek Cypriot this week.

The Daily Trojan writes that in his inauguration speech, "Nikias will likely argue that from this day forward our university has a challenging mission ahead — to make even greater academic strides on top of the progress we’ve already made."

Annenberg TV News spoke on camera with Nikias on the eve of his big day. Nikias said he hopes to bolster USC's athletic department, perhaps with new sports teams, and that the theme of his speech will be "Reign of the Trojans."

For those unable to attend, KXSC Radio will provide live coverage of Friday's ceremony via the station's online stream.

Part of Friday's ceremony will include an annoucement that two donors have provided $50 million each for a cancer research center and a new building for USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

Friday will also be a big day at the campus of USC's rival, UCLA, where the estimated attendance is also 10,000 people for a Democratic Party rally featuring gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown, lieutenat governor candidate Gavin Newsom and former President Bill Clinton.

The crowd may be even larger Friday Oct. 22, when President Barack Obama comes to USC with U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Brown and other notable Democrats.