The Undergraduate Student Government president and chief diversity officer reported their ongoing and upcoming projects Tuesday night during the first senate meeting of the spring semester.

President Brianna Sánchez gave her first report since being sworn in last December. During her report, Sánchez highlighted the USG donation drive to support those impacted by the multiple active and inactive Los Angeles wildfires, which began Jan. 9.

The donation drive — which will run from Jan. 14 to 17 — will collect essential supplies, including first aid materials, hygiene products and sleeping bags. Sánchez said Student Life has also been working on financial aid for students impacted by the fires.

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“It’s a very hard time right now in L.A., but we did want to give back to our community,” Sánchez said. “We have had lots of students reach out wanting to give donations, so this is our way of providing a space for any student who wants to make a donation.”

Sánchez also discussed her other projects, including expanding the Trojan Food Pantry’s hours, hosting Wellness Week and establishing a shuttle route from the Los Angeles International Airport to campus.

USG hosted a return shuttle service from LAX to campus from Jan. 11 to 12 to assist students’ return from winter break. Sánchez said there were no complications in the shuttle service, but noted many students canceled their tickets due to the fire, enabling the service to accommodate last-minute ticket requests.

During the meeting, chief diversity officer Yasmeen ElFarra presented her projects, including finalizing the diversity poll reports and planning spring semester diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging training.

ElFarra said the finalized diversity report will be released in late February.

ElFarra also highlighted the optional DEIB trainings for presidential, vice-presidential and senatorial candidates currently in the election process. The final planned training, titled Equity-Centered Decision-Making, will occur Jan 16.

During meeting announcements, senators John Breitfelder and Patrick Nguyen announced their plans for a Waymo initiative, which they said would expand students’ access to the self-driving car service. Breitfelder said the initiative would reduce fares within a designated zone, providing another option for travel alongside the University’s current Lyft service.

Nguyen said the senators have met with the USC Department of Transportation and are planning to meet with Waymo representatives to discuss discounting rates for students.

“We believe that Waymo is the future,” Breitfelder said, in an interview after the meeting. “We’re really excited about everything that it can bring to USC for our students from a sustainability perspective … and also from a safety perspective.”

Senators Jeremiah Boisrond and Ali Bhatti also announced a form created for students and families to provide input on how the reduction of the National Merit Scholarship — beginning with the class of 2029 — has influenced their decision to attend USC and their overall college experience.

Last month, the University reduced scholarships for National Merit Finalists from half tuition — $34,952 this academic year — to $20,000.

Bhatti said University administration officials told him the reduced National Merit Finalist funds will be redistributed to support students with demonstrated financial need. Boisrond said he plans to introduce a resolution at the Jan. 28 senate to demand fiscal transparency from the administration regarding the redistribution of funds.

“There has been a lot of growing frustration when it comes to financial transparency from USC administrators to the student body,” Boisrond said. “It’s important that we shine a light on this very important issue because this does affect incoming students.”