Undergraduate Student Government President Morgan Wittenberg announced the appointment of four students to the USG executive cabinet in an e-mail sent to all undergraduate students on April 16. The positions of chief of internal affairs, director of communications, secretary and parliamentarian do not have a vote or speaking privileges in Senate meetings but are important to the operations of the meetings and the body as a whole.

Director of Communications Molly Lynch

Sophomore Molly Lynch will serve as director of communications on the 2014-15 USG Senate. In this position, Lynch will be the head of the public affairs committee and will be responsible for gathering ideas and opinions from students and informing the student body about USG initiatives.

Lynch is from Bayville, N.Y. and is double majoring in marketing and management. In addition to serving as a USG senator for two years, she is a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and the WTUL radio station. She has also been an orientation coordinator and Outreach Tulane project coordinator.

Lynch said she ran for the position because she served on the public affairs committee and wanted to bridge the gap between USG and the student body at large.

“What [the public affairs committee] tried to do this past year is focus on making USG more of a presence on campus, but I thought we started focusing too much on social media,” Lynch said. “I wanted to apply for the position to make USG a more physical, approachable and recognizable presence on campus.”

Lynch has already developed ideas to better communicate with the student body, such as hosting town halls, holding monthly events on McAlister Drive and improving the current USG website. She said she is excited about implementing these plans.

“I really love my public affairs committee,” Lynch said. “They’re awesome people, and I think they’re going to have really great ideas, so as much as I’m excited for the summer, I’m pumped to get back in the fall and start working on ideas, to physically be here and see changes being made. It’s going to be awesome.”

Secretary Caroline Thompson

Freshman finance and political science major Caroline Thompson will serve as the secretary on the executive cabinet. She is from Colorado Springs, Colo. and is a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity. She is an Altman Scholar and served as a freshman senator-at-large last senate.

The duties of the secretary have changed this senate. Originally, the secretary was only responsible for writing minutes, but has now adopted many of the duties of the executive vice president, including sending out reminder emails to USG members and preparing and passing out legislation packets at meetings. Thompson said she ran for the position because she is very organized.

“I’m one of those people that when I take notes, they’re in 800 different colors,” Thompson said. “I make a study guide for every class. I’m pretty on top of things.”

Thompson introduced a new mailing system to USG called MailChimp. Thompson said the software is very easy to use and will reduce the hassle of having to use a listserv to contact USG members. She also said the new school representation system introduced this year will streamline the legislation process.

“USG as a body this upcoming semester will be a lot more cohesive because the people are representing their schools,” Thompson said. “There’s not necessarily individuals butting heads. Now that you have the schools representing their interests, I think it’s going to create a lot more clarity within Senate.”

Thompson said she looks forward to working with her fellow executive cabinet members.

“We’ve got a really great cabinet,” Thompson said. “Everyone knows each other outside of USG as well, which I think is going to create a really cohesive cabinet.”

Chief of Internal Affairs Michael Schwartz

Sophomore Michael Schwartz is the newly appointed chief of internal affairs. He is from Demarest, N.J. and is double majoring in management and legal studies in business. Schwartz is the social chair of Zeta Beta Tau fraternity and a member of Tulane Jewish Leaders with The Goldie and Morris Mintz Center for Jewish Life.

The chief of internal affairs position is new this senate. The position’s duties include serving as a USG representative to staff within the Division of Student Affairs; overseeing the secretary, parliamentarian and director of communications; and other administrative responsibilities. Schwartz said he developed an interest in USG after serving as a member of the student safety committee.

“I began on the student safety committee last semester, and I got a taste for USG and everything that could be accomplished,” Schwartz said. “It really struck my fancy.”

Schwartz said he hopes more students will use USG as a resource for tackling their issues.

“Next year, my focus is trying to bring USG to the students so that students know that we are an organization that you can come to,” Schwartz said. “We can accomplish things, so if you have a problem, come to us.”

Schwartz said he believes the new USG executive cabinet and senate will be able to accomplish their goals.

“I’m extremely excited,” Schwartz said. “I think we can do amazing thing. This senate is incredible. This cabinet is incredible. I think that next year is going to be really fruitful.”

Parliamentarian Trace Hancock

Freshman Trace Hancock will serve as parliamentarian on the 2014-15 executive cabinet. He is an undecided business and international relations double major from Shreveport, La. Hancock is Vice President for Civic Engagement for Paterson Hall, an executive member of Tulane University Broadcasting Entertainment, a member of the Baptist College Ministry and Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity. The parliamentarian is responsible for making sure meetings run smoothly and that all members are following established conduct rules.

Hancock said he applied for the position because he had previous experience in debate.

“I originally applied for director of communications but in high school I did a lot of policy debate and went very far with it, competing on the national level and I competed all over the country,” Hancock said. “[Wittenberg] thought that that would be a better suit for me to be parliamentarian. I agreed with her.”

Hancock said that by working with Wittenberg, he will be able to assist members in learning parliamentary procedure.

“As far as everyone learning the procedure, I think that as long as [Wittenberg] and I are very transparent … I think that will be a great foundation for us to start building that education foundation of basic procedure,” Hancock said.

Hancock served as a proxy on the finance committee last senate and will now serve as a permanent member this year. He said he hopes to see a restructuring of finances.

“I would love to see a restructuring of finances where it doesn’t seem like every time USG plays a hand in financial obligations, we are cutting,” Hancock said. “I would love to see [student organizations] get more money or new funding or new equipment or new technology they want.”