Student organizations on campus play a large role in making the Tulane student experience the best it can be. These four students lead some of the largest and most prominent organizations on campus, including student governments, campus programming and community service. 

Morgan Wittenberg, USG President

Enthusiastic about the upcoming year and ready to finish the projects she has already begun, Undergraduate Student Government President Morgan Wittenberg is entering her second term with big things planned for the Tulane community. 

Wittenberg is a political science major with a concentration in international relations and has a coordinate major in social policy and practice. She is originally from Raleigh, North Carolina. Wittenberg will graduate in May 2015.

Wittenberg has been busy this summer. She attended a conference in Washington with 80 other student body presidents and was part of a briefing at the White House about its new task force on protecting students from sexual assault.

“Really my first priority is making sure that we implement that at Tulane and we’re engaging the right people,” Wittenberg said.

Wittenberg, along with the USG board, met with student government leaders from other schools around Washington in order to ensure Tulane was providing the best services in areas such as sexual violence and harassment, LGBT programs and multicultural affairs. 

Wittenberg spent June through August working on leadership development at a camp in the Pocono Mountains. She is also an orientation coordinator for Greenie Camp, a new EXPLORE program for incoming freshman. 

“Tulane is at a really exciting point in its history with all the changes that are going on both administratively and physically,” Wittenberg said.

She begins her second year with the same passion that was evident in her first. 

Chris Halbohn, ASB President

When Associated Student Body President Chris Halbohn is not working on Tulane issues, he is outdoors hiking, swimming, running or participating in one of the many other campus organizations he is part of. 

In addition to student government, Halbohn is a campus tour guide, an intern in the Admissions Office and a member of a fraternity.

This summer, Halbohn focused on building the relationship between Tulane students living off campus and residents living in the surrounding neighborhoods by sending student representatives off campus to local neighborhood associations. 

In the upcoming year, Halbohn’s main initiative will be improving student safety on the Tulane campus and in the surrounding area. 

“Crime has existed in all four years of my time here,” Halbohn said. “There is a new update crime alert every week, and it just seems like there is always something else that can be done. We have a pretty significant budget, and I thought it would be a pretty good place to start spending some money.”

Halbohn said he wants to provide more self-defense classes for students. In addition, he plans to ensure that women in particular feel safe, especially in fraternity settings.

Halbohn said he is most excited to gain input from fellow students and improve transparency. 

“I just love talking with people and effecting change,” Halbohn said. “And the best way I feel like I can do that is by having as many conversations with people that I can and being as transparent as possible.”

Sydney Licht, CACTUS Chair

Senior Sydney Licht will serve as Chair of the Community Action Council of Tulane University Students this year. She double majors in Marketing and International Development and enjoys baking, traveling, yoga and her two dogs.

Licht got involved in CACTUS when she started a service organization called Tulane Lives Beyond Breast Cancer, which hosts a major fundraising event called Yoga On the Quad. 

Licht has spent the summer planning Outreach Tulane. Students will perform community service at more than 30 site locations in New Orleans. 

“Over 1,000 students are expected to participate,” Licht said.

CACTUS aims to help give students an introduction to service and navigating the bureaucracy involved in planning service projects and organizations.

Licht said she hopes to make the bureaucracy more transparent.

“What you guys have realized in your short time being here there is that there are so many steps to getting things accomplished,” Licht said. “It is very confusing when you are a freshman, and you are really ambitious and want to start and organization. Or you are a senior who is just trying to figure stuff out now.”

Licht also wants to improve communication to the student body so service organizations and individuals are fully aware of all the resources CACTUS offers. 

Emily Mayer, TUCP President

Emily Mayer, President of Tulane University Campus Programming, loves exploring the city and culture wherever she is and most importantly “living it up along the way.”

 She majors in management and marketing and works off campus planning concerts and music festivals.

Mayer said she wants more students to get involved in deciding what events TUCP brings to campus. TUCP host two or three town hall meetings a month in order to ensure that everyone who wants to can provide input. 

“We want to bring more diverse speakers, or lecturers or opportunities to everyone,” Mayer said. “And really not focus on one group or area but really open up to a whole realm of possibilities.”

In addition, TUCP wants to focus on making safety a number one concern when planning events.

Mayer said she enjoys working behind the scenes to bring new and different events to Tulane that enhance the student body’s experience.

“I think it is so much fun to be able to give back to the school,” Mayer said. “One of the coolest parts about it is really hearing what the kids want and giving them something extra and fun that they can do on campus.”