USC

USG inaugurates new president, vice president, speaker of the senate and 2 senators

In their final meeting of the semester, the USG Senate also gave updates on current and upcoming projects.

USG President Brianna Sanchez raises her right hand.
USG Chief Justice Susanna Andryan swears in new USG President Brianna Sanchez. (Photo by Maxwell Reinardy)

In their final USC Undergraduate Student Government meeting of the semester, Brianna Sanchez was inaugurated as USG’s new president, Dane Sprague as its new vice president and Jad Kilani and Sydney White as its two new senators. In addition, Elija Barnes assumed his new role as the speaker of the senate.

USG Chief Justice Susanna Andryan carried out the inauguration ceremony.

Sanchez served as vice president until Bryan Fernandez, the previous president, resigned on November 21. Sprague previously served as a senator, and Kilani and White joined after Fernandez and former speaker of the senate Diana Carpio resigned.

Carpio was removed from her role as speaker on November 19, retaining her role as senator. However, she resigned the following day. Her removal as speaker came a week after the Senate approved a rule change to include a process for removal of the speaker.

Kilani was a runner-up in the September special elections, which saw the election of senators John Breitfelder and Ali Bhatti. White was executive aide to the former chief diversity officer last academic year.

In addition, the Senate confirmed Shrinidhi Sriram as its new chair of affordability and basic needs. Sriram said that she hopes to ensure that everyone has their needs met and will work on projects like FAFSA assistance, an alternative to work-study for undocumented students, and Tommy’s Closet, a program that collects clothing donations from USC students and distributes them at a discounted price for students in need.

Other projects include Senator John Breitfelder’s initiative to build pickleball courts on campus — the plan’s proposal is complete and is being discussed with USC’s administration. Breitfelder has also been in touch with Google to establish a Shryft-style deal with Waymo, a driverless car service, allowing students to use Waymo for a reduced cost. The plan intends to limit assaults and robberies from Uber and Lyft drivers.

Sprague, Barnes, Chief of Staff Sofia Coen, Chief Diversity Officer Yasmeen Elfarra, Chief Financial Officer Chisom Obioha and Senators Jackalyn Karamanougian and Brandon Tavakoli also presented their past, current and future projects. More details can be found in the USG meeting agenda.