I hope everyone had an amazing winter break. If you took classes over this break, I hope that you were successful in them. Winter classes are quite the feat so getting through one is an accomplishment in itself. The spring semester is in full swing and so is the Undergraduate Student Government.

These past two weeks, USG hosted welcome week events. We had the privilege of hosting a hybrid welcome week this year as compared to last year or this past semester, where it was hosted fully online.

USG Vice President of Student Affairs Laiba Hussain spearheaded the creation and execution of welcome week in collaboration with her committee and other USG members, including Vice President of Academic Affairs Osvaldo Garcia and Chair of Arts Leslie Acuapina.

Our welcome week programming included virtual events such as “Where’s Bernie,” which was a social media scavenger hunt that tested our student body’s knowledge, and “Best Dressed Bearcat,” which was a social media competition to find the best outfits during welcome week and our first USG General Interest Meeting.

Some in-person events that were hosted included “Cocoa & Chill,” which was a mug and cocoa bomb giveaway, “Are you Smarter than a 1st Year,” which was a collaborative event with Hussain where we tested the knowledge of students on general topics about Baruch College and “Pic & Pals” with Acuapina, which was a competitive Pictionary event where we also had Yaya’s rice balls.

This welcome week was a huge success and a testament to the fact that we are bringing the Baruch spirit back to campus. General feedback from the student body and Office of Student Life concur with this sentiment.

Later this month, we will be hosting a popup giveaway event. More details will come out shortly and will be posted on social media.

This last semester of our USG tenure, as mentioned in my report in the fall, will be focused heavily on engagement on campus. We are trying to reinvigorate the Baruch culture that existed before COVID-19. This semester’s welcome week events were our first step in accomplishing that.

We have an exciting programming schedule in March that includes more in-person events, in addition to collaboration with OSL for Women’s History Month.

As always, stay up to date with all of our events by following us on Instagram: @usgbaruch. If there ever is an issue, you can send us a DM or an email. Our contact information can be found on the Baruch USG website.