Announcements

Vivek Mantha

Lambda Chi Alpha
Major: Computer Science
Minor: Business
Hillsborough, NJ

As Lambda Chi’s diversity chair, Vivek has taught the members of my fraternity the importance of diversity in any organization. Additionally, he has established a culture within the fraternity where every voice is welcomed, heard, and respected. Lastly, he has helped many brothers start virtual tutoring in the Greenbelt area. His guidance has enabled them to make a positive impact in the community.

In the past year, Vivek has completed over 30 hours of tutoring service for an organization committed to providing educational aid to underprivileged groups known as Greenbelt Cares. He tends to tutor middle schoolers in math. One-on-one tutoring has allowed him to improve student’s grades along with their confidence. By instilling good learning and study techniques Vivek has helped put my students on a good path to success.

Andrew Kirschnick

Phi Sigma Kappa
Major: Environmental science
Minor: Geospatial Information Science
Towson, MD

Serving on the executive board of his fraternity, Andrew has helped shape the culture from the top down. Serving on the IFC judicial board he has helped shape the culture of Greek life by promoting positive behavior within the Greek community. He has connected brothers with alumni and ushered in new members that have gone on to become leaders themselves. Andrew’s time at PSK has helped him develop leadership skills and join the executive boards of his other clubs.

Outside of greek life, Andrew has been involved with various environmental clubs that set up stream cleanups and help to clean up the campus. He has helped lead informational sessions to increase campus-wide sustainability and promote environmental justice. While serving the Dean’s student council for the AGNR school, he has helped relay student concerns to faculty and administrators.

Zach Wilhelm

Pi Kappa Alpha
Major: Biochemistry
Ellicott City, Maryland

Zach has held the role of Health and Safety officer for the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity and used his position to emphasize the importance of proper conduct when at social events and ensure that the women of the UMD community felt respected and safe when engaging with the Pike chapter. Through his work and collaboration with many other brothers in Pike, they were able to meet the issue of sexual misconduct, which has become an unfortunate hallmark of Greek Life, head-on. They made huge strides within their own chapter to encourage open dialogue about the subject and improve vetting of new members to ensure they treat all individuals with respect. None of this work would have been possible without the efforts and leadership exhibited by countless brothers in Pike.

Outside of Greek life, Zach is a member of the Maryland Mentors Program which works with lower-income elementary schools in PG County to provide math and reading tutoring. He is now in his fourth semester with the program and has been able to see dozens of kids learn skills they may have never been able to if not given a chance to demonstrate their excellence through the Mentors Program.

Ronak Patel

Phi Sigma Kappa
Major: Computer Science
Minor: Philosophy
Piscataway, NJ

By becoming involved in the UMD community, Ronak was able to expand his passions in a way that allowed him to enjoy what he does as well as find new applications for his major. He is very interested in finding unusual but helpful applications from one topic to another and feels that becoming more involved has opened his eyes to the possibilities of that.

Ronak is involved in Engineers Without Borders as he is the Uganda Remote implementation sub-lead and Chapter Secretary

Mat Steininger

Sigma Alpha Mu
Major: Computer Science
Minor: Spanish and Statistics
Reisterstown, MD

Mat built a platform that allows people throughout Maryland to better access COVID-19 vaccine appointment slots, called mdvax.info. Thus bringing a lot of pride and recognition to UMD as a whole with all the press.

Mat has received significant responses from people throughout Maryland where Twitter and the website enabled them to sign up and receive the COVID-19 vaccination. The impact can be measured by the number of supporters he has on the Twitter which is in the thousands and all the press as of recent.

• https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/vaccine/find-available-vaccine-appointments-in-maryland-one-stop-shop-umd-student-made/65-c00b5853-a664-4cd0-95dd-ceb92714442c
• https://www.wsj.com/articles/tech-tips-to-help-score-a-covid-19-vaccine-appointment-at-cvs-rite-aid-walgreens-and-more-11614594600
• https://today.umd.edu/articles/terps-seek-shorten-vaccine-appointment-waiting-game-dc82ebd0-9ee4-49fb-9103-d4639b886d95
• https://www.fox5dc.com/video/906642