@mwParents, @CADREAMIN, This is what Annabel from the Housing office said today: Cancelling the housing contract will get the deposit back and it would not change anything else. You could do leave of absence or go outside of campus, etc… It only means you are out of contract for the whole year. [ USC would not be able to accommodate everyone who signed the contract anyway - they need people to be voluntarily out or reassign people to different a bldg. or out of campus anyway. Other schools already started this practice. - this is my conclusion, not from USC ]
Also, the Housing office insisted that they would not make an announcement about the new deadline. they will not send emails to everyone either. If you ask, they will tell you right away. I agree with @CADREAMIN - freshmen should be especially cautious about the consequences of canceling the contract as that may impact their future years at USC housing.