The University will no longer allow tables, booths, carts and commercial activity on the Trousdale Parkway entrance, Department of Public Safety Assistant Chief David Carlisle wrote in a statement to the Daily Trojan. 

Now, DPS has erected signs stating that unauthorized tabling is not permitted to “keep the plaza safe and accessible to everyone.” 

The signs haven’t stopped people from tabling. Some vendors, like Chinese delivery apps HungryPanda and Fantuan, fruit carts, and housing organizations, have set up their tables on the thinner sidewalk in front of the plaza, circumventing the ban. 

“Gavin Herbert Plaza is an important and active gateway to USC’s campus, and we want it to remain welcoming, accessible and easy to navigate,” the statement read. 

Before the ban, student organizations, businesses and religious organizations set up booths on Gavin Herbert Plaza, the space between the campus entrance and the West Jefferson Boulevard and Hoover Street intersection.

Multiple student organizations that tabled at the entrance this week interviewed by the Daily Trojan declined to comment. 

Breanna Monsivaiz, a recent graduate who majored in civil engineering, and Ian Wang, a master’s student studying aerospace engineering, are the co-founders of ReSwap, an app that helps USC students post housing listings, rideshares, clothing, furniture and more. 

As student entrepreneurs, Monsivaiz said they tabled at the Trousdale entrance to talk to daily users of their app and hear feedback from the USC community. She also said the Trousdale entrance is a “hub” for startups. 

“I’ve seen many startups that have been in that same location, and they’ve gone on to do great things,” Monsivaiz said. “I’m a little sad that that ban is there because USC is the opportunity and the place to be for entrepreneurship. And what better way to get in front of your ‘customers’ than to do it face to face?”

Wang said there was a universal feeling that the Trousdale entrance was a free speech area and that people were allowed to table. Like Monsivaiz, he said the ban contradicts the spirit of entrepreneurship that USC encourages. 

“USC already does a pretty good job in promoting this entrepreneurial mindset and incentivizing students to start their own thing, solve problems and go through those challenges,” Wang said. “It kind of seems a little contradictory that they’re then also not giving us any space to [table].” 

On Aug. 15, before the signs announcing the tabling ban were placed, Monsivaiz said ReSwap set up at the plaza and received messages from students asking if they would table again. But with the ban in place, Wang said they had to move their next appearance and are hoping that USC would give students other locations to table at. 

Wang also questioned how new student organizations would form with the ban, since he has seen many clubs get their start by tabling at the Trousdale entrance. 

“How do you even attract those initial members if you can’t go to the Involvement Fair, if you’re not registered at the beginning [of the year]?” Wang said. 

In the past, student groups have reported trouble forming their organizations. In Fall 2024, Campus Activities rejected every aspiring student organization applicant after releasing a new version of the application. 

But in Fall 2025, the University improved its application process by hosting info sessions and increasing transparency. Student organizations reported a smoother process, more organization and better communication from the administration. 

Carlisle stated that the enforcement on Herbert Plaza is in accordance with the USC Student Handbook. The most recent version of the rulebook’s tabling section states that tabling is not allowed at the Jefferson and Trousdale entrance. 

This is also consistent with previous versions: The 2025 handbook states the same policy.

When asked by the Daily Trojan why the tabling ban was now being enforced, Carlisle stated that it was due to so many vendors being unapproved. 

“It is University property and private vendors and students have always been required to get permission from the University,” Carlisle wrote. “The number of unapproved vendors (food vendors, private student housing groups, etc.) moving onto the plaza recently was becoming a problem. Signs were added in the plaza to help DPS keep the area unobstructed.”

Recognized student organizations can sign up in Sample Hall to table at approved locations, Carlisle stated.