President's Cabinet

What is the President’s Cabinet?

The President’s Cabinet was formed by the 2008-2009 Student Body President (Jared Itkowitz) and Student Body Vice President (Pooja Godbole). It has been formally added as a bylaw to the Constitution of the Student Body of Carnegie Mellon.

The purpose of this cabinet, in short, is to enable the Student Body Executives to get more of their goals accomplished in their one year term. Any activities-fee paying undergraduate or graduate student who is not a member of the Student Senate or the Graduate Student Assembly is eligible to apply to serve on the President’s Cabinet. With the help of a Chief of Staff, Constitutional Advisor, Public Relations Secretary, and an Application Engineer, the Cabinet gives the Executive Branch a farther reach and a broader skill set. Beyond weekly meetings, the President’s Cabinet will assist the Student Body President and Vice-President in an effort to enhance the Carnegie Mellon student experience through policy revision and creation, campus events, and community discussions.

For more information about each role, please refer to the cabinet bylaws [pdf].

Meet the Cabinet

	Benjamin Trump – Chief of Staff Benjamin Trump - Chief of Staff Nickname: Ben, BDT Email: bdt@andrew.cmu.edu Favorite Book: The Winter King by Bernard Cornwell Hometown: Springfield, Virginia What's your take on an all sororities quad?: As a fraternity president (ZBT), I'm alarmed at the departure of several longstanding fraternities from Carnegie Mellon. While I know the sororities will greatly benefit from their new houses, I'm going to be playing close attention to how this will affect the Greek Quadrangle in the upcoming months. It is my hope that Greek Life will be transparent with the entire Greek Community about future issues like this before they happen, and not after. Ben is a political science major in the Science and Humanities Scholars Program (SHS). A member of ZBT, College Republicans, and formerly Business Affairs Chair of the Undergraduate Student Senate, Ben has acquired significant experience in 4 semesters in various roles of leadership. In Senate, Ben advocated for greater financial transparency across all university departments along with sweeping dining reform. As Chief of Staff, Ben hopes to bring past experiences to the Executive Branch and further the administration of Rotimi and Adam by pushing for greater financial transparency for both graduate and undergraduate students. Please contact him via e-mail with any questions or concerns you would like presented before the Student Body President, Vice President, and President's Cabinet in full meeting.
	Ruth Poproski – Constitutional Advisor Nickname: Poprocks Email: rpoprosk@andrew.cmu.edu Favorite Television Show: Buffy the Vampire Slayer Hometown: Waterloo, ON (Canada) How do you feel about pornography movies in McConomy?: I don’t think it’s a good way to spend student fees. If you send me an e-mail, I’ll tell you why. Ruth is a PhD student in the Philosophy Department where she studies Game & Decision Theory and the Philosophy of Language, and sometimes teaches a class in the Philosophy of Religion. At CMU she has been a GSA representative and the Elections Board Chair, has participated in the President’s Student Advisory Council, and has worked on updating several regulatory documents. This year her hope is to begin the process of updating the Student Body Constitution – and its associated policies and bylaws – to better reflect and govern the activities of the Undergraduate Student Senate and the Graduate Student Assembly. In her spare time she attends hockey games (Go Pens!), takes French cooking classes, and hangs out with her neighbours (which, as a proud Canadian, she spells with a ‘u’). She loves working with undergraduate students, hates broccoli, and finds Pennsylvania alcohol laws a complete mystery. And she can’t imagine a better life than that of the professional academic.
	Anthony Yudi Liu – Public Relations Secretary Nickname: Liucifer Email: yudil@andrew.cmu.edu Favorite Disney Ride: Rock n’ Roller Coaster Hometown: Randolph, New Jersey Ideal Vacation: It’s a tough choice because he loves to travel the world and experience new foods and cultures. If he had to choose, he would love to relax and cruise under the Mediterranean sunset, sipping on sangritas. Anthony (Yudi) Liu is a senior in the Tepper School of Business. He loved his job as an Orientation Counselor for the Hills (go Red team!). Yudi became very involved with the Kappa Delta Rho fraternity and served as social chair. He participated in numerous other activities including Undergraduate Consulting Club, Emerging Leader, Students in Free Enterprise, and Student Advisory Council. Last year, he had a blast studying abroad at the London School of Economics. As PR, Yudi hopes his extracurricular experience as well as his professional background in nonprofits and in the financial industry can add value to the Carnegie Mellon community. He is now a member of the Mortar Board Senior Honor Society. His girlfriend describes him as sincere, insightful, and stubborn. Contact him at yudil@andrew.cmu.edu if you think she is wrong and of course if you just want to talk about bettering CMU!
	Cassandra Abernathy – Outreach Liaison Nickname: Cassie or Cass Email: cabernat@andrew.cmu.edu Favorite City in the World: New York City Hometown: Tampa, FL Ideal Date: Long, lazy day at the beach, followed by a quiet and romantic dinner and a stroll under the stars ☺ Cassandra Abernathy is a junior in the Carnegie Institute of Technology's Civil and Environmental Engineering program. She is a member of Kappa Alpha Theta and Peer Health Advocates. Prior to serving on the President's Cabinet, Cassandra was a senator representing CIT, and the Internal Development Committee chair within Student Senate. She originally hails from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and has moved many times within the United States. Her hobbies include spending time with family and friends, exercising, reading health articles, and listening to music.
	Anisha Vaswani – Environmental Affairs Liaison Email: Anisha.vaswani1@gmail.com Favorite TV show: NCIS Hometown: Shirley, NY Should Carnegie Mellon provide free healthcare?: Since health insurance is required by Carnegie Mellon, students who do not have coverage by their families do not have a choice but to spend almost another thousand dollars for insurance. It is completely understandable that all students need to be covered. However, low income students should at least be offered an application for either a reduction of insurance fees or free insurance. Anisha is in Mellon College of Science as a sophomore Chemistry major. And prior to serving as the Environmental Affairs Liaison she attended “Power Shift 2009,” served as an Emerging Leader and Eco-Rep, and has also participated in OM. For the next year she will be the President of CUTIES (Carnegie United Towards Improved Effort in Service) as well. With a passion for “being green” Anisha will assist in making Carnegie Mellon more sustainable with the voices of other environmental groups on campus. In her free time Anisha loves to spend time with her friends or watches ridiculous amounts of food network. If you have any suggestions or concerns, email her at Anisha.vaswani1@gmail.com.
	Adam Kriegel – SDC/AB Liaison Nickname: Doug, Kriegz, Kriegelman Email: akriegel@andrew.cmu.edu Favorite Color: Since Black isn't technically a color... Navy Blue Hometown: Lima, Ohio If you had a billion dollars, what would you do?: I would go to school for the rest of my life. I'd study during the fall and spring and then vacation all summer long. Adam is a sophomore from Lima, Ohio who plans to major in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He is a chairman for concerts on the Activities Board as well as a member of the Student Dormitory Council. In his spare time he enjoys listening to, playing, and recording music.
	David Taylor – Application Engineer David has been serving as Application Engineer since Fall 2008. Prior to coming to Carnegie Mellon in 2007, David worked at various startups and e-commerce firms in his hometown of San Francisco. Currently a sophomore Information Systems major, he is also pursuing a second degree in Computer Science. As application engineer, David is responsible for the continued operation of and improvements to the BudgetTracker, OrgTracker and Elections applications on Student Government's website.
	Mark Thurman – Webmaster Nickname: Thurms Email: mthurman@andrew.cmu.edu Hometown: Belleville, IL Mark is a junior in Computer Science. In his free time he enjoys the outdoors especially camping and climbing. He also rows for the University Rowing Club.