The Undergraduate Student Government senate met virtually Tuesday night to hear about ongoing projects from senators and to reform its rules for senate meetings. 

Senators heard presentations from chief programming officer Kayla Parayno, chief diversity officer Kaleb Stephens, and the newly appointed USG historians Luisa Luo and Heidy Cho. 

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Stephens spotlighted their work meeting with other university student governments and an upcoming Open Forum on affordability to connect students, USG members and administrators.

Senators Matthew Speier and Jake Zober presented ongoing projects they are assisting with, including an effort to create a central list of the services USC students have access to, creating a TrojanLearn module about Indigenous land and offering University-wide Grammarly Premium. 

The senate’s only new business for the week was the passage of an amendment to the senate meeting rules. The amendment would call for the vice president to open a public comment period following the presentation of a bill and prior to debate. 

This system would replace the current one in which senators yield their time during debate to audience members wishing to comment.

The bill also calls for audience members to line up the center aisle of the Forum in the Tutor Campus Center, rather than be acknowledged in their seats, and would provide audience members with a microphone if one is available.

“It’s really important to increase organization during discussion periods, making sure all students can have the opportunity to speak and do so in the most effective and efficient way possible,” said chief communications officer Mustafa Ali Khan in an interview with the Daily Trojan after the meeting. 

During the discussion period at the end of the meeting, several Jewish and Israeli students rose to speak about the fear they have experienced on campus as a result of the Israel-Hamas war.

Students described hiding jewelry that might identify their faith or avoiding speaking Hebrew in public. They described chants at a protest on campus for Palestine last week, which they said reminded them of rhetoric prior to World War II. 

Senator Brandon Tavakoli, who identified himself as “one of four Jewish senators,” spoke about the experience of Jewish students on campus being warned by their parents to be careful when expressing their identity. 

“It’s a talk between them and their parents, where mom and dad look their Jewish kid in the eye and tell them ‘Be careful. Be careful when you walk to Hillel. Be careful when you walk to Chabad. Be careful when you wear the Star of David on your neck,’” Tavakoli said. 

Speaker of the senate Emilia Bletsas was absent from Tuesday’s meeting and vice president Michelle Lu confirmed in an interview with the Daily Trojan that Bletsas has decided to step down in order to study abroad next semester.

Chief of staff David Martinez will offer a senate seat to the runner-up candidate from last spring’s election cycle. After the seat is filled, senators will select a new speaker of the senate and both the new senator and new speaker of the senate will be sworn in at the senate’s next meeting.