The recent initiation of Distance Learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the way many student-based organizations Diamond Bar High School operate, including the United Student Body, or USB.

Like their peers and teachers, USB has transitioned from an open classroom to virtual meeting rooms on platforms like Google Meets and Zoom.

“It definitely feels weird not being able to run things the way we typically do, but we are committed to providing an experience similar to as if we were in person,” USB president Brian Jin said. 

Rather than work in commissioner pairs like they used to, USB has assigned members to committees in order to focus on aspects of school like event planning, club management, and keeping up the spirit and participation.

“We expect and hope to have engagement from our student body and to have activities to help students bond with one another virtually to show spirit within our school,” Jin said.

So far, USB has no plans on how they will be conducting events like rallies or dances since nothing has been formalized or district approved, but elections will continue to proceed online like in the past.

“There will be little to no change from years past,” Akash George, class of 2022 president said. “Just like before, we will be using a secure Google Form for elections.”

For students who wish to run for office, class officer applications are available on the DBHS website for all grades, and interviews will take place online until they can be held in person.

Applicants will advertise with the mandatory promotional video on the ballots, but any other campaigning must be done through social media or some other means.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the candidates that will apply,” USB advisor Janna Van Horn said via email. “Now more than ever, we need dedicated, driven and passionate student leaders to apply for USB.”

Van Horn added that club rush will still take place, however, only existing clubs will be able to participate as they are not currently approving new clubs.

“We will be asking for a short promotional video from the groups that want to participate and we will be putting those together in a platform and make that available to our student body,” Van Horn said.

Van Horn named sources like the Brahma Briefing, the DBHS website, Google Classroom, teacher announcements and social media like the USB Instagram page as channels USB is going to use to spread information and make announcements.

“USB will be using everything to get information out to the student body,” Van Horn said. “We want everyone to be able to hear about the various activities and opportunities available to our students.”

USB is currently working on alternatives for this semester and the next and has stated that they do not wish to replace all the upcoming events with virtual substitutes, but if necessary they hope to plan events that create the same type of experience.