Student Body Executive

Gavin Keirans – President
UPUAPresident@psu.edu

Gavin Keirans is the current president of the University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA), serving as the Chief Leader of the Student Body. President Keirans recently was re-elected to his second term in office with the most votes in the history of Penn State University. Keirans a senior majoring in Business Management, will also graduate this spring with minors in Business Law and Labor/Employment Relations. He hails from Philadelphia, having attended St. Joe’s Prep for high school. As President, Gavin oversaw the establishment of Free Legal Services, a Tenant-Landlord Mediation Program and the Online Book Exchange.

In addition to being UPUA President, Gavin is a voting member of the Student Activity Fee Board, Chairs the Facilities Fee Board, has a seat at all Board of Trustee meetings, and is a member of the Alumni Council. Academically, he has been successful as a three time Dean’s List student. As a Freshman, Keirans also ran for President, finishing first runner up.

Much of his current term has been spent working on uniting major student organizations and solidifying UPUA’s presence. President Keirans believes that a sense of tradition and pride needs to be restored to this campus, and through his efforts of outreach as well as systematic changes, he plans to make a lasting impact for the Penn State Student Body.

Hillary Gupta – Vice President
hillarygupta@gmail.com

Hillary Gupta is the current Vice President of the UPUA and is a senior majoring in Business Marketing and pursuing minors in International Business, Spanish, and International Studies. Since her freshman year, Hillary has been very active on campus serving in various committees and organizations but has been most involved with UPUA and her sorority.

Hillary is one of the founding members of UPUA, having served as 1 of the 6 At-Large Representatives for the past two and a half years. Hillary also served as the Special Events and Programming Chair for a year and a half before leaving to study abroad in the spring semester in Alicante, Spain. Besides student government, Hillary is extremely active in Greek Life and has held various leadership positions in her sorority having been appointed as the Risk Manager of her chapter for the 2007 term and was then elected President for the 2008 term.

Besides her duties with UPUA and Greek Life, Hillary has also been involved in the Student Health Insurance Advisory Board, a committee within the University Strategic Planning Council, and THON. Although Hillary is a native Texan, she is completely obsessed with our beloved Penn State and hopes to make it even better through continuing her work with student government for the upcoming year.

Matt Smith – Chief of Staff
mrs5141@psu.edu

Matthew Smith has served Penn State students for the past three years, most recently holding the UPUA Academic Affairs Chair post which acts as the student liaison to the Vice President for Undergraduate Education and the Associate Deans for Undergraduate Education at University Park. As Academic Affairs Chair, Matt lead his committee to expand absence rights for religious celebrations, orchestrated alternates for student senators, implemented a university procedure for students to enforce the final exam policy, created credit hour options that encourage students to study abroad, strived to increase student IT fee management, and endeavored to provide every academic college with a student council.

He has been honorably discharged from the United States Marine Corps, where he received multiple commendations following service in Iraq and Djibouti including a Combat Meritorious promotion and Joint Service Commendation Medal. Attending Penn State has been a lifelong goal. In addition to undergraduate advocacy, Matt sought out Big Brothers Big Sisters, became a YMCA Volunteer, and revitalized the Liberal Arts student council. He has made Dean’s List during every semester and is immensely proud to continue building the history, traditions, and glory of the students of Old State.

Justin Weiner – Director of Finances
jnw5029@gmail.com

Justin Weiner is the UPUA Director of Finances/Treasurer. In this capacity, Justin acts as the chief financial officer (CFO) of the organization maintaining relationships with all university and non-university financial entities. Justin oversees and monitors the organization’s budget and assists the various entities of UPUA with financial requests and any application for funds.

As the official liaison to Associated Student Activities (ASA), Justin manages all income and expenditures in line with the decisions of UPUA. Justin is from Huntingdon Valley, PA and is a Finance major with a minor in Information Systems Management. Passionate about working with students, Justin is also a brother in Phi Chi Theta Professional Business Fraternity and former President of the Student Steering and Advisory Committee of the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia. He credits UPUA with broadening the scope of his thinking and appreciating other people’s viewpoints and perspectives.

Vicki Marone – Secretary
vrm5024@psu.edu

Vicki Marone joined UPUA in January 2009 and began as secretary at the beginning of the 2009-2010 Assembly in April, 2009. She is in charge of taking the minutes at every assembly and executive meeting. She is a sophomore in the Schreyer Honors College majoring in Mathematics and Energy, Business, and Finance. Vicki is from Newton, Massachusetts and thus is a very big Red Sox fan.

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Yvette Lerma – Director of LGBTA Affairs
yil5036@psu.edu

Yvette Lerma was confirmed as the Director for the Department of LGBT Affairs for UPUA during Spring of 2009. She is very excited to be the first individual filling the position and develop it to its full potential. Yvette has been involved in several LGBTA related organizations for the last three years. Most recently, she was the 2008-09 president for Rainbow Roundtable. Currently, Yvette is the Straight Talks Pro and Assessment Intern for the LGBTA Student Resource Center. She is a non graduating senior in Sociology, pursuing minors in Women’s Studies, Latino Studies, and Gender and Sexuality Studies.

Samantha Miller – Director of Assembly Services
sem5118@psu.edu

Samantha currently serves as the Director of Assembly Services for the UPUA. This is Samantha’s third year with the UPUA, having served as an At-Large Representative for the past year and a half, and also as the 2008-2009 Governmental Affairs Chairperson. As Governmental Affairs Chair, Samantha worked to open a line of communication between the Governor and the students as a means of discussing appropriations to Penn State. She arranged for a meeting between UPUA leaders and Governor Rendell in March of 2009.

A Schreyer Honors student, Samantha is seeking degrees in political science and philosophy, as well as a minor in Spanish. Outside of UPUA, Samantha is also involved in other areas around Penn State. She is a Penn State Lion Ambassador and served as their 2008-2009 University Relations Chair. She is also a member of the Student Philanthropy Council. From Malvern, PA, Samantha is honored to be able to serve the student body with the goal of creating a place in the Penn State Community for every Penn State student.

Christopher Nock – Director of Media and Public Relations
cln5031@psu.edu

Christopher Nock is the Media and Public Relations Director for the UPUA. He has served on the UPUA as an On-Campus representative on the third UPUA Assembly and an At-Large Representative for the forth UPUA assembly. Christopher also serves as the President of the Penn State Student Black Caucus. Christopher studies in the College of Communications and is perusing a B.A. in Public Relations. He is from the Bronx, New York.

Matt Sheroff – Director of Internal Affairs
mrs5121@psu.edu

Matt has been actively involved with student government throughout his tenure at Penn State.  As a freshman, he served on the USG Executive Board and was elected in the Spring of 2007 to the UPUA Assembly representing the Smeal College of Business.  During his sophomore year, Matt served as a member of the Academic Affairs committee and represented the Smeal College of Business on the Faculty Senate.  He was also very involved with the Business Student Council.  As a junior, Matt served as the UPUA Treasurer during the Fall of 2008 before studying abroad in London the following Spring.  After spending a semester overseas, Matt returns to the UPUA as the Director of Internal Affairs with chief auditing and investigative responsibilities for the organization.

Besides his involvement in student government, Matt has also been a Lion Ambassador since the Spring of his sophomore year, and remains very involved in promoting and sustaining the proud heritage of Penn State for both the student body and the Alumni Association.  Matt has also held a variety of internship positions at both Johnson & Johnson and General Electric which he believes have provided him with the leadership training and technical skills to be effective in his new role within the UPUA.

Chris Smith – Director of University Services
cjs5135@psu.edu

Chris Smith is the Director of University Services for the UPUA. In this position Chris is the direct liaison between the Departments of Health Services, Career Services, and Information Technology Services to the student body. As such he works to manifest the most comprehensive quality of life services for the Penn State University student body.

Chris is a senior Political Science major and History minor. He is a member of the Pi Chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon International Fraternity and has served as Vice President. He is a past director for the Fraternity Purchasing Association Cooperative as well as an active participant in the IFC/ Panhellenic Dance Marathon. Chris has served the Penn State Greek community for the past year as the Interfraternity Council Vice President for Standards and currently maintains that position. In addition Chris is the Executive Director for the Pennsylvania Tuition Coalition.

Greg Tallman – Director of Encampment
gdt5005@psu.edu

Greg Tallman is a senior majoring in Finance and Economics from Broomall, PA.  Greg has served on the Overall Committee as the Communications Chair for THON 2009, is a member of the Penn State Lion Ambassadors, and former Executive Chair of the Atlas THON team.  He has also been involved with the Second Mile College Friend program and the Schreyer Honors College Student Council.

Greg is a passionate Penn State and Philadelphia sports fan and prefers Geno’s over Pat’s.  He has traveled to two Penn State bowl games, the 2009 Rose Bowl and the 2006 Orange Bowl.  He looks forward to a trip to the 2010 National Championship game.