USG, cultural assemblies host Welcome Back Festival


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Undergraduate Student Government hosted its first-ever Welcome Back Festival in McCarthy Quad on Saturday. Approximately 100 students attended the event, which explored the theme of “Uniting the Trojan Family.”

Thirteen organizations participated, including the Asian Pacific American Student Assembly, Asian Greek Council, Black Student Assembly, Environment Student Assembly, Habesha Student Association, International Student Association, Interfraternity Council, Latina/o Student Assembly, Multicultural Greek Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council, Queer and Ally Student Assembly and Women’s Student Assembly.

“There are so many unique groups of students at USC, which are represented by these student organizations,” USG Senator Daniel Million, who helped organize the event, said in a statement emailed to the Daily Trojan. “Each and every organization that will be present at this event has carried out amazing and impactful events that they do throughout the year. This festival will give them all another opportunity to work together on one collective event that will show new and returning USC students that USC is moving towards a more united Trojan family.”

According to Million, USG held the event to bring diverse groups of USC students together at the start of the year.

“Many students on campus feel as though they are not connected with different groups on campus,” Million said. “The focus of this event is to improve the inclusivity of the USC community.”

USC Assistant Vice Provost for Student Support & Advocacy Lynette Merriman explained that all of the performers were USC undergraduates who had a chance to display their talents to the public during this festival.

Million said that he first conceived the idea when running for the Senate.

“I reached out to the assemblies, and together, we came to put on the event,” Million said. “When I first ran [for Senate] as a student on campus, I felt a little underwhelmed about the lack of representation on campus, regardless of race or class. [The festival] was a good opportunity to connect to everyone on campus and share different ideas and cultures.”

Million said that he plans for the event to be a staple within the USC community for many years to come. He also noted the help that the different cultural assemblies on campus provided when planning the festival.

“I felt it was impossible to have this happen without them,” Million said. “The sponsoring was vital, and I was happy to gain that for years to come.”