Hillel student president included in diverse student groups appointed to President's Student Advisory Council

UCF's new President's Student Advisory Council has been selected, according to records obtained by Knight News, and one of the members is Emily Budin, president of Hillel.

UCF President Alexander Cartwright first announced the formation of an advisory group in August, made up of students and student leaders, with the goal of building a more inclusive culture at UCF.

While Cartwright mentioned there would be 12 total students within the council, 20 students were chosen - Knight News is working to learn more.

The student members of the council are as follows:

Chanelle Henry, Black Student Union

William Cuvero, Latin American Student Association

Adrian Lee, Asian Pacific American Coalition 

Alex Maldonado, Pride Student Association, Lavender Council 

Carletha Sidberry, President's Leadership Council

Sean Foley, Graduate Student Association

Lauren Bonefont, Student Government Senate

Emily Budin, Hillel

Abdullah Saqib, Union of Muslim Organizations

Adriana Rodriguez, Student Accessibility Services

Jeslin Kera, College of Medicine

Brian Nguyen, Sustainability and Green Issues, Innovative Solutions

Geela Margo Ramos, Mental Health Issues

Charlene Singh, Transfer and Transition Issues, Direct Connect

Vanessa Ramirez, Transfer and Transition Issues, Student Accessibilities 

Lakelyn Taylor, UCF Downtown, Ethics, Crisis Intervention

Natalia Correa-Ferro, Direct Connect, Transfer Student Issues, RSO Allocations

Derreasha Jones, Equal Access, Financial Disparities

Elijah Newton, African American Male Issues

Ebose Okondo, International Student Association

The PSAC will be overseen by coordinator Ana Petkov. 

Germayne Graham, director of the President's Leadership Council and who will be working with PSAC very closely, said Cartwright took time out to meet with many student leaders to initiate this new council.

"During this time of racial unrest and all of the things that have been happening in our country, there were a lot of students that expressed interest in making some changes at UCF," Graham said. "And he's been meeting with a lot of students and getting to know the university and thought this would be a great addition."

The PSAC will be concurrent to PLC on campus in working with university leadership to elevate student voices, Cartwright said.

The PLC also serves as an advisory council to Cartwright - the group of 35 individuals were selected based on leadership, academic achievement, extracurricular activities and service to the university and community, according to PLC's website.

"We have close to 70,000 students," Graham said. "And this president is wanting to make sure that he touches a lot of different populations of students."

Of the students selected through the application process, student assistant and PLC chair Laura Green said there will be one member of PLC selected to represent the council within PSAC.

"It will not be me or the vice chair," Green said. "But we are putting someone's name forward to represent us."

The member that has been chosen to advise Cartwright and represent PLC is Carletha Sidberry. 

"UCF should be a place where anyone can be their true selves and be equally supported," Cartwright said. "Regardless of who they are, what they look like and what they believe."

Knight News is working to obtain more information from the university.