External Affairs

The External Affairs Committee is responsible for issues outside of the University campus including all local, state, and national matters. The Committee represents the student opinion through meetings with the Town of Mansfield as well as with the State of Connecticut. External Affairs also organizes state wide student government conferences and works on issues such as financial aid, textbook prices, and college loans. The External Affairs Committee is also the chief organizer of the UConn Votes Coalition which works with multiple student groups to increase voter turnout at the University of Connecticut.

External Affairs Chair

Robert Ganim Robert Ganim is a senior Political Science major and Middle Eastern Studies minor who has been active in student government since his freshman year of college, when he served as a senator in the Student Government Association at UConn Stamford. Following his transfer to the Storrs campus his sophomore year, Rob was elected as a residential senator from the Alumni Quad for the 2007-2008 school year. While a senator in USG, Rob became an active member on the External Affairs Committee, where he helped plan and execute the Connecticut Conference of Student Governments, which brought together student leaders from Connecticut's various public and private universities. Rob has returned to Storrs to finish his last year after spending his junior year abroad. He lived and studied in Amman, Jordan for his fall 2008 semester, and spent spring and summer 2009 interning in Washington, DC.

External Affairs Deputy to State Affairs

Christine McGrath Christine McGrath is currently a junior perusing a degree in political science. She began her involvement in the Undergraduate Student Government in the fall of 2008 as a volunteer on the External Affairs Committee. She was elected CLAS senator in April of 2009. Christine is from Cranston, Rhode Island. In her spare time, she enjoys playing softball, eating Thai food, and watching the West Wing and Grey’s Anatomy.

External Affairs Deputy to Town Affairs

Thomas Knecht Thomas Jacob Knecht, or simply "Jake", is a Junior Political Science and Economics double major. Knecht is an outgoing person who is very interested in the world around him and dedicated to helping the student body.