New USG leadership sworn into office

USG’s Senate meetings on Tuesday night at TCC’s Forum were far from regular as the transition of power from the current year’s officers to the elected students was the main event of the night. Both meetings, the first which was led by the 141st USG Senate and the second which was led by the 142nd USG Senate, were high with energy. Students cheered and clapped as future and former members stepped up to the podium, gasped in moments of shock, and reflected during long speeches.

Tutor Campus Center Forum was packed with students and USG members ready to see newly elected candidates assume office, but the first general order was for the 141st Senate to hold their last official meeting. After some updates from former Senators Yang and Abija, the former Speaker of the Senate Tommy Nguyen gave his last speech. In his lengthy address, Nguyen expressed his gratitude for USG and reflected on his time within the organization. Nguyen said that while USG did not meet all of the goals they set out to reach, that failure was a necessary learning experience, a theme prevalent throughout his speech. He closed with a heartfelt thanks to his fellow USG members and wished the best of luck for the incoming members.

The next item on the agenda was to approve the nominations for next term’s executive cabinet; all individuals were screened and nominated by President Woodworth and Vice President Krishnan. Last week, these nominations were presented, this meeting they were brought to a debate followed by a vote. During the debate, Chief of Staff nominee Diego Andrades said he will work to “make USG look better internally and externally” when asked how he will help build community. “Making sure that everyone who is in USG knows that their Chief of Staff is there for them,” he said, “will lead to a healthy internal USG, which will lead to a healthy external USG.” Andrades assured he will make sure that everyone who is in USG will know each other and get along. Chief Communications Officer appointment Paul Yi was also grilled with questions, asked by a Senate member about how he will ensure better transparency in communication. “[I] will make sure that accessibility is a priority,” said Yi, emphasizing how important it is for the student body to know what happens within USG. After some more discussion, the appointments were brought to a vote.

First, Senators said yea and nay in a mixed vote, leading to a roll call vote. One by one down the table, several Senators abstained from voting for the appointments, with one Senator voting against the nominees. When former Vice President Lucy Warren, who led the vote, mistakenly announced that the appointments did not pass, the room erupted in dramatic gasps and heads turned everywhere in confusion. Moments later, the result was corrected. While the abstains were higher than the yeas, the appointments were approved.

Following the vote, the meeting continued with a somber feeling in the air.

Funding proposals from last week, including the proposal for the USC History Fund in conjunction with The Scroll and its 1880 Project passed unanimously. With these last two proposals passed, USG used up the rest of their programming budget.

A Resolution in support of the Petition Recognition by Senator Krishnan along with student liaisons from QuASA, BSA, and APASA was introduced last week. After making small amendments to the document, the resolution was approved unanimously.

After many attempts at incorporating as student assemblies, the Military Associated Student Assembly and the Middle East North African Student Assembly were fully approved. Anthony Khoory, a junior majoring in sociology, was at many Senate meetings and was thrilled that this finally happened. He reflected on the success that USG has achieved, and recognized the MENASA community for rallying to get a student assembly finally established. “This is to the amazing senators and amazing [MENA] students…who are sick and tired of the last couple years,” Khoory said, “you have to stand up for what you believe is right.”

Former president Alexis Areias gave her final State of USG address, which highlighted the achievements and failures under her leadership. This was the first in-person State of USG address since 2019. Areias spoke about USG’s focus on “prioritizing inclusion and empowering other Trojans.” She thanked the more than 500 members of USG for their resilience in navigating the pandemic and disparities affecting marginalized communities on campus. Areias pointed out achievements, such as the creation of USG’s advocacy department, which works closely with student assemblies to make sure underrepresented voices are heard. She also highlighted the creation of the student health advisory committee, which will make sure that all buildings on campus will have free menstrual products for everyone beginning fall 2022.

“I’m proud to say that we are better off than we were a year ago. In the midst of transition, we are back in person and we are no longer in recovery mode,” said Areias.

On the other hand, the outgoing president also spoke about failures that USG encountered, such as the sexual assault allegaions against Sigma Nu Fraternity members in October. “Times like these make student government more important than ever.” Areias said. She thanked the community for rallying around for the victims, including the nine student organizations which worked with USG to address the issue. “While some of our student leaders had to step down and USG began to stumble, student voices never stopped working to make USC the best that it can be.” said Areias. She said that due to USG and student efforts, there will now be a third party investigating USC’s Title IX processes in order to prevent future harm to victims.

Areias closed by thanking her cabinet, vice president and senate for the work they achieved in the past year and congratulated the elected members. She welcomed them and wished them luck in their new roles. Finally, she thanked the student body: “Thank you for entrusting us with the privilege to represent you, it has been the honor of a lifetime,” said Areias.

The room erupted with applause and a standing ovation and the meeting was brought to a close. After some pictures and celebratory congratulations, a new meeting began.

The 142nd USG Senate took their seats at the table for the first time and business began immediately. After Hannah Woodworth was sworn in, she delivered her first speech as USG President. She talked about the resilience of USC and USG, emphasized how deeply honored she is to be elected to the role, her commitment to accountability and her vow for transparency within the organization. Afterward, Nivea Krishnan was sworn in as Vice President of USG followed by the Senate and the new Chief Justice Courtney Azari.

Krishnan guided the new Senators through some formalities of the Senate meetings and the parliamentary secretary got to the agenda quickly. The short meeting began with the appointment of a new CPO, Jillian Fallon. The Senate will vote on her approval at the next meeting. USG also introduced a new resolution to extend the Pass/No Pass deadline for the spring 2022 semester. A petition started over the weekend to extend the deadline, which garnered over 1,400 signatures, was recently denied by the office of the Provost.