The first cabinet meeting of the semester laid the groundwork for what Student Government plans to accomplish this spring. Representatives around the room shared semester goals with a unifying focus on the need to strengthen relationships with the community through visibility, accessibility and representation.
Student Body President Ross Lordo connected his focus on community to the racially charged fliers found on campus. He said that his cabinet should show that USC is not a place where such things are accepted. He also expressed the need for his cabinet to be prepared to respond should something similar happen again.
"I really just want to take 10-15 minutes to reflect on what happened last week ... not only reflect, but also think forward about what we can do in response to incidents like these that happen," Lordo said. "I think that we need to be comfortable with knowing what the steps forward really should be."
Secretary of Safety and Transportation Halle Mackert announced a spring safety campaign focusing on busy campus intersections. She will be working with USCPD to hand out rewards to those seen demonstrating safe pedestrian practices.
Mackert said that the proposed campaign would focus on promoting safer behavior when crossing the busiest intersections around campus, "because too many students have been getting into accidents, either by getting hit by cars, bikes [or] mopeds."
Secretary of Diversity and Inclusion Tyler Dillard proposed the creation of a Diversity and Inclusion Council that would hold monthly town hall meetings.
"I just thought it would be a really good idea to have something where it's a set thing where [if] people have something they want to bring up, they can come to this town hall," Dillard said. "We had a town hall recently, and it was a very positive experience, but we need to have more than one a year."
The next cabinet meeting is Jan. 30. It will feature a discussion of applications for the new student union Steering Committee as well as the Congressional Advisory Board and the South Carolina Student Collaborative.