2022-2023 USG cabinet and senate sworn in


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Photo of Outgoing Vice President Lucy Warren speaking to attendees of the meeting at a podium.
Outgoing Vice President Lucy Warren led the final Senate meeting featuring outgoing 2021-2022 cabinet and senate members. (Marissa Ding | Daily Trojan)

The Undergraduate Student Government held its final meeting with the 2021-22 cabinet and swore in next year’s elected officers and the 142nd senate Tuesday. 

Hannah Woodworth, USG’s 2022-23 president, was the first to be sworn in and spoke about what she hopes to accomplish in the next year.

“As we transition into a new year, we get to redefine our USG priorities,” said Woodworth, a junior majoring in journalism. “Our first priority must be uplifting student voices. We must strive towards greater coalition building both inside and outside the organization. USG must take on a more active role in our community.” 

Following Woodworth’s speech, Nivea Krishnan, a sophomore majoring in public policy and economics, was sworn in as the vice president, followed by Courtney Azari as chief justice and the 142nd USG senate. 

“Going into this year, we have an immense responsibility but also an opportunity,” Woodworth said. “After witnessing the collective resilience of our community these past two years, I could not be more hopeful about what we can and what we will accomplish in USG this coming year.” 

Outgoing president Alexis Areias also gave the first in-person State of the USG address in two years and said she was “proud of the resiliency” that the USG community displayed in that time. 

“I’m proud to say that we, as an organization, are better off than we were a year ago. In the midst of transition, we are back in person and we are no longer in recovery mode,” Areias said. “We are now in a position to push full force ahead.” 

The USC History Fund, which looks to allocate $10,000 to the University’s history department to “study USC histories that have been forgotten, overlooked, subordinated, or suppressed,” was unanimously approved. 

Additionally, the senate unanimously passed the Resolution in Support of Petition Recognition. The resolution recognizes that student-driven positions serve as the strongest advocacy tool for underrepresented groups on campus and start necessary conversations about overlooked problems on campus. The resolution calls for University administration to implement a framework to acknowledge petitions and provide an email response to petitions that receive at least 1,500 signatures no later than two weeks after the petition meets the necessary qualifying criteria. 

“This resolution would further address those things that aim to encourage student-led activism and advocacy efforts,” said queer and ally student assembly advocacy liaison Rudra Saigal. 

The Military Associated Student Assembly and the Middle Eastern and North African Student Assembly both received unanimous approval to join the programming department as assemblies. 

“We are so blessed to have USG,” said Anthony Khoory, a junior majoring in sociology who has advocated on behalf of MENASA since 2019. “This is to the amazing senators and amazing students … who are sick and tired of the last couple years … You have to stand up for what you believe is right.”

Senator Arie Abija presented some of her accomplishments from the past year, including the Trojan Shop Local campaign, which will encourage students to engage with Black and Indigenous people and people of color-owned businesses, drafting the resolution in support of Ukrainian students and hosting the “Hues of Healing” art therapy for survivors event.

After the inauguration, two new senators, Victor Ye and Alvaro Flores, introduced a new senate Resolution in Support of Extending the Spring 2022 Pass/No Pass Deadline, which expressed USG’s support of a student-launched petition to extend the Pass/No Pass grading option deadline to April 15. The resolution will be voted on at next week’s senate meeting.