USG addresses coronavirus plans, year’s first projects

The Undergraduate Student Government discussed USC’s coronavirus plans during the first Senate meeting of the 2021-22 school year Tuesday. Members of the executive branch and Senate also presented updates on their first projects of the year, including a new language center and an initiative to support local small businesses. 

Senior Executive Aide and Chair of the COVID-19 and Return to Campus Taskforce Katelyn Lee discussed the efforts she and USG have implemented to keep students informed on the status of coronavirus case numbers on campus. Over the summer, Lee said she attended regular meetings with Chief Health Officer Dr. Sarah Van Orman and worked with the USG Communications Branch to create weekly coronavirus updates on Instagram. 

Moving into the fall semester, Lee’s priorities for the taskforce include promoting vaccination rates among students, especially international students due to their lack of access to vaccines. According to Lee, USG is also communicating with project specialists at Keck Medicine to work on future collaborations to promote vaccination to the surrounding South Central community. 

“Our outreach will look like finding ways we can use our funds and advocacy efforts to promote vaccination and safe practices in the external community. This is a priority for USG because the return of USC students to campus may lead to an increase in transmission of COVID-19 in the external community,” Lee said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “We want to ensure that community members have access to vaccination and other resources to support them through the ongoing pandemic.” 

Lee also said she looks to increase coronavirus-related transparency from USC Student Health and continue to share resources to ensure students’ safety. 

“Dr. Van Orman has done a really great job of putting information out there, but [we’re] just helping to promote those efforts and, of course, sharing and creating resources as the situation continues with the Delta variant, making sure that our students are safe,” Lee said. 

At a student health media briefing on Aug. 19, Van Orman said that 92% of domestic undergraduate and graduate students, including those who are undocumented, are vaccinated. Eighty percent of international graduate students and 70% of international undergraduate students are vaccinated. Approximately 1.3% of students, staff and faculty are unvaccinated but are approved for a medical or religious exemption, and approximately 3.3% are unvaccinated without an exemption, rendering them incompliant with the University’s coronavirus policy. 

USG President Alexis Areias also announced the opening of a Center for Languages and Cultures, a space that will “target language learning on campus, creating a culture of language learning that is much larger than what we’re seeing currently.” 

“I personally love language … I think it’s a really important thing, and I think the fact that we have such an international population at USC; it’s important that we are valuing language and the additions that it can bring to our community,” Areias said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. 

Sen. Arie Abija also presented her work with Trojan Shop Local, an initiative started by local students to promote local businesses in the South Central area. The initiative consists of a list of local businesses researched and approved by the students, which can be found on their website and their Instagram page. 

“I’m actually not from [Los Angeles] originally, so I feel like another transplant to this community, just like a lot of USC students are,” Abija said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “Being able to just see that, ‘Hey, a local business owner feels seen by the University,’ and [Trojan Shop Local is] a tiny way I can do it; that’s why I was really interested in getting involved.” 

Abija also discussed the beginnings of another project to revamp the way South Central is portrayed towards prospective and new USC students on campus tours and at orientation. 

“I feel like the narrative about South Central being dangerous and the negative connotations start really early, and so, to get started at admissions and orientation, making that a positive connotation of the story would be great,” Abija said. 

As the in-person school year begins after a year and a half of virtual learning, Areias said she looks forward to showing the student body what’s “new and improved and fresh” with USG. 

“I think there’s a lot of moving parts, but at the end of the day, we’re just really excited to be back,” Areias said. “I think the next few weeks will be a real test to our University’s capacity … but I’m feeling optimistic.”