USG inaugurates new leadership at Tuesday meeting


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The outgoing Undergraduate Student Government passed four resolutions, including the Terranea Resort Resolution, Learning Evaluation Resolution, Responsible Investment Resolution and Sanctuary University Resolution. (Aamani Ponnekanti/Daily Trojan)

Sophomore Trenton Stone, junior Mahin Tahsin and the 12 senators-elect were inaugurated at an Undergraduate Student Government meeting Tuesday. Each member of the new administration swore an oath to serve USG’s Constitution, bylaws and Code of Ethics and USC’s student body to the best of their abilities.

“As we’re all aware, USC has encountered a few speed bumps and even roadblocks over the last few years,” Stone, now USG president, said during the meeting. “We’ve seen where, as students, our trust has been broken and where a few can take advantage of many. I want to emphasize that in our role, Mahin and I, as your representatives, will also act as your advocates.”

As the vice president, Tahsin will now lead every weekly USG meeting. According to Tahsin, the senators will dedicate the final weeks of the semester to budgeting.

“I think this Senate is very qualified to be here,” Tahsin said. “I’ve watched them all work very hard to get here, and I’m sure their dedication to the position will follow through for the next year.”

During the meeting, Stone announced Jeffrey Cho, a junior majoring in linguistics, as the new Chief Diversity Officer. He also introduced the seven Advocacy Assistant Directors — Tommy Nguyen, Nhat Ngo, Andrew Fowler, Nate Manor, Julian Kuffour, Neal Sivadas and Laura Pearson.

“I’m really looking forward to working with everyone else who I’m on Senate with,” Sen. Benjamin Shiff said. “Over the past month, in terms of getting ready, we had a lot of chances to talk about the initiatives we’re trying to start. We’re getting the wheels running on some projects that we want to do.”

After the outgoing administration concluded its final meeting, the inaugurated senators took the outgoing senators’ seats and began their first official meeting.

“I think I feel a little bittersweet to see the incoming Senate take over,” former Sen. Amy Chong said. “Words of advice I have for them is to collaborate with one another, have open communication and also to remember that the entire Senate is a team and they’re not working on an individual basis.”

In the meeting held by the previous administration, the outgoing Senate voted unanimously to pass four resolutions, while one — the Von KleinSmid Flag Resolution — failed.

Proposed last week, the Von KleinSmid Flag Resolution failed, with four votes in support of the resolution and eight votes against it. The resolution proposed the inclusion of more flags for the countries not currently represented at VKC. Senators discussed their uncertainty about the vague state of the resolution and their desire for the upcoming administration to work on it further.

The University Sanctuary Resolution, which intends to push USC to become an official sanctuary campus, passed without discussion. The resolution aims to drive the University to create policies that would protect undocumented students.

The Responsible Investment Resolution, which seeks to establish a University task force with student representation to promote transparency among University decisions, also passed. In addition, the Terranea Resort Resolution and the Learning Experience Evaluations Resolution passed.