USG plans community outreach

USG Community Affairs has planned a monthly gathering at the USC Community House, where students can sit down with neighborhood leaders and talk about the surrounding L.A. area.

USC’s Community House has a full-time staff, some of whom live in the house and coordinate USC and community relations. The USG-proposed monthly gatherings will discuss topics such as transportation and exchange programs with surrounding schools.

“Their goal is to help organizations and give them the tools to carry out their events,” said Marissa Srour, director of Community Affairs. “It’s a fantastic resource for organizations that need help connecting with community leaders.”

In the past, there has been minimal student involvement; the USC Community House mostly interacted with administrators. This year, however, the monthly meetings are intended to be both informative and interactive. Srour said they are opening up the house more this year because, in the past, students were not familiar with it as a resource.

“It’s great to actually show students their surrounding community,” Srour said. “It’s really important to really connect them and use that resource. We want to increase awareness about this great community house and this great organization.”

In the beginning of the year, a community tour was held by the local government for freshmen to see the surrounding community as well as the campus.

This was the first time the tour was held and the tour bus was filled beyond capacity, so Srour said she expects a similar outcome for the monthly gatherings.

Srour said she expects the monthly gatherings to begin at the end of the semester.