![[One-sentence description of what this media is: "A photo of a vaccine site on USC campus" or "Gif of dancing banana". Important for accessibility/people who use screen readers.]](https://uscannenberg-uscannenberg-prod.web.arc-cdn.net/resizer/v2/LMP7BNGVZJEUBCWJWHISEGDKMA.jpg?smart=true&auth=6d34a31103c57d0d591be5d4fe93bd8979c248f40d9b33e36588e029ae2a9978&width=6000&height=3375)
Tuesday night’s USG Senate meeting was a return to normalcy after last week’s flurry of activity within the organization. However, there were some new faces sitting in the chairs of the USG Senate. The senators for the 2022-2023 USG term held their first solo meeting the night of April 12 and, while it kicked off with a rocky start, there was no shortage of passionate questioning and new business to dominate the meeting.
The short meeting started by bringing the appointment of Chief Programming Officer appointment Jillian Fallon to debate and, later, a vote. First, President Hannah Woodworth and Vice President Nivea Krishnan were asked by two senators why Fallon was the best candidate for the job. Woodworth noted that Fallon was the only interviewed candidate with student assembly experience, which led to her experience in programming.
“We recognize we need to prioritize experience, and that’s what we need from our CPO appointment,” Woodworth said. She explained that the CPO position is still relatively new, so Fallon’s experience would make her the best candidate for the job.
“Jillian received a glowing recommendation from the programming team,” Krishnan said.
Later, Fallon, who joined via Zoom, was grilled by several Senators on her experience, ideas, and goals for the upcoming year. Fallon answered all of the questions eloquently while proving her qualifications that make her worthy of the chair. The senators also called on Woodworth and Chief Communications Officer Paul Yi on how they will work to better communicate with the USC student body on programming. After a roll call vote, the appointment of Fallon was fully approved.
Next, two Senators introduced a resolution to pressure the USC administration to recall attention to an event where a student was harassed online earlier in the semester. The resolution looks back on when a student ‘taking over’ the university’s Instagram account used language around Lunar New Year that angered many in the Chinese community at USC. In the takeover, the student suggested moving away from “Chinese New Year” as it was “incorrect.” They have since clarified their intention and publicly apologized, stating that they only meant to suggest “Lunar New Year” was a more inclusive title. According to the Daily Trojan, the student received “racist, offensive and threatening messages,” following the misstep. The resolution demands USC administration issue more than just a formal apology to the student who was running the Instagram account at the time. The document calls for USC to take steps to prevent another incident of this fashion. The resolution will be voted on during the next meeting.
USG Senate meetings are held at TCC 350 on Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m.