The College Democrats of New York are the official college outreach arm of the Democratic National Committee and are affiliated with the College Democrats of America. We focus on electing Democrats from the grassroots level up. In 2008, we canvassed all over the Northeast for Democratic candidates on the local, state, and national level.

As the next generation of Democratic leaders emerges, CDNY will stand behind them to bring peace and prosperity back to America. Young voters have already made a difference in 2009. Thanks for stopping by, and don't give up the fight.

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Ian Rivera is a graduating Senior at St. John's University, in Jamaica, Queens, majoring in Government and Politics. Throughout his time at St. John's, he has become increasingly involved in local and state politics, working to help get young people involved and break the commonly held notion that college students are apathetic about politics.

Ian currently serves as the President of the College Democrats of New York. He began his involvement with CDNY during the 2008 Presidential election, when he volunteered to coordinate chapters from across New York City to participate in two different campaign invasions, including into Centre County Pennsylvania, which turned blue after voting for George W. Bush in both 2000 and 2004. Shortly after, Ian was appointed fill the vacant New York City Region Chair position, and then was elected President at the 2009 CDNY Convention. He also serves on the Finance Committee of CDNY's parent organization, the College Democrats of America, and has worked to connected CDNY's chapters with CDA.

Ian's term ends in May 2010, at which time he hopes to hand off the reigns of CDNY to the next generation of student leaders and become active in the CDA Alumni Association, to ensure that College Dem state feds from across the country can create the same opportunities for their state feds and CDNY did for him.

Ben Jacobs is a 21 year old Senior currently attending the University at Albany, State University of New York. Originally from Manhattan, Ben’s passion for Democratic politics began at an early age. In addition to his work with the College Democrats, Ben has interned summers and semesters in the New York State Assembly and United States House of Representatives.

Shortly after then-Senator Barack Obama announced his decision to run for President during his freshman year of school, Ben put together Students for Barack Obama at SUNY Albany. In the next year, he travelled to many surrounding states to do field work in the primaries, from Concord, NH in January to Cleveland, OH in March with his fellow students for the Obama Campaign. In Spring 2008, Ben was able to resurrect the then defunct College Democrats of UAlbany and was elected its President, the position he holds today.

After years of activism, Ben couldn’t be more excited for SUNY Albany to host the 2010 CDNY Convention this April.

Nick Roloson is a Junior at St. John's University, in Jamaica, Queens, majoring in Government and Politics. Throughout his time at St. John's, he has become increasingly involved in local and state politics, working to help get young people involved and organize his community.

Nick currently serves as the Political Director of the College Democrats of New York. He began his involvement with CDNY in 2007 after attending a College Democrats meeting at St. John's. Before long, Nick began working on several campaigns including Brian Foley for State Senate and Elizabeth Crowley for City Council. Nick now serves as the Constituent Liaison for Assemblyman Mike Miller.

Kathleen Digan is a recent grad of Siena College with a degree in Political Science. She has spent most of her life living in Syracuse, NY but has previously lived in New York City, New Jersey, Texas, and Washington DC. She currently lives in Albany, NY and is a Legislative Aide for Senator Breslin.

At Siena Kathleen became involved with College Democrats within her first week by signing up for Siena Democrats at the school's club fair. This gave her the opportunity to work on many different and exciting campaigns in the 2006 midterm election year. Working on campaigns was such a thrill that she decided to become more involved with the organization. She became President of Siena Democrats which allowed her to help other college students to become involved with campaigns on the local, state, and federal level.

At the end of her Freshman Year she was appointed to Capital Region Chair for the College Democrats of New York (CDNY). This was an exciting position and she enjoyed being able to reach out to the various schools in the Capital Region and help expand their membership bases and do coordinated activities together. Kathleen decided to expand upon her role in CDNY and ran for Secretary of the group at the end of her Sophomore Year. In the role of Secretary she was able to work closely with the President and help organize events and campaign invasions CDNY hosted during the Fall of 2008. She currently holds this position within the organization.

It was in the Fall of 2008 that Kathleen joined on with the College Democrats of America as Northeast Regional Director. After the election she also became the Platform Chair of the College Democrats of America. Kathleen is currently serving as the National Council Vice Chair of the College Democrats of America.

Matthew Cashman is a senior enrolled in the 5 year BS/MS at Fordham University pursuing a degree in Ecology. He is currently the Communications Director of the College Democrats of New York and the President of the College Democrats of Fordham. He lives at Fordham University in the Bronx.

Matt became involved with politics through his activism on a wide-range of environmental issues. Understanding that the best way to ensure greater environmental protections and sustainable development was to become involved in politics, Matt joined the Fordham College Democrats, expanded the club to take on a wider-range of issues, and doubled its membership.

Currently, his research interests focus on landscape ecology and water quality in Westchester County. Recognized by the Morris K. Udall Foundation and the US Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution for his commitment to the environment, he aims to synthesize his experience working in politics with hard-science to educate and help create informed policy decisions for land-use and potable water systems.

Michael Schillawski is a senior at Cornell University, where he majors in Government and Economics. He has been involved with both the Cornell Democrats and the College Democrats of New York since the winter of his sophomore year. He has served in multiple capacities, as the 2008 State Convention Planning Committee Treasurer, as the Cornell Democrats' Treasurer, and currently as both the Cornell Democrats' President and CDNY's Finance Director.

At Cornell, Michael's involvement with the Cornell Democrats began after he was cut from the ultimate team, and had time on his hands. That involvement quickly escalated to canvassing for Darrel Aubertine in cold Oswego for a special election. After that, he never looked back. He rose through the ranks and became President in his senior year. He became involved with CDNY after helping to plan the 2008 State Convention, hosted by Cornell, when he ran for Finance Director.

During his tenure, CDNY became a force for organizing college students across New York State and getting politicians to take notice of college students. Part of this, he believes, is a result of its status as Political Action Committee (PAC). He hopes that CDNY continues to grow in the coming years and become an important player for insuring student's voices are heard in the halls of power.

Brian Hegt SUNY Albany Class of 2009 Political Science Major and a Minor in Business Administration. Currently working for State Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins who represents the 35th Senate District in Westchester County. I became interested in government and politics after my first summer interning for Senator Stewart-Cousins during the summer of 2007. I learned the basics of organizing and being a liaison to the communities that the Senator represented. After that summer I interned for the Senator in Albany and began to learn about public policy and the legislative process. Following that school year, I returned to the Senator's District Office and worked as a Community Liaison to the Towns of Greenburgh and Mount Pleasant. Over the next few years, my role with the Senator would vary depending on location (Albany or District) and I was afforded the opportunity to work on her most recent campaign for re-election in 2008 when she defeated a local Yonkers City Councilman. Senator Stewart-Cousins has given me an incredible amount of institutional, political, and necessary life knowledge that serves as the foundation for my political career and will be carried for the rest of my life. I am still working for Senator Stewart-Cousins, once again in her District Office, and looking forward to the upcoming election cycle of 2010.

My name is Jon Hermann, and I am the Membership Director for CDNY. I recently transferred from Binghamton University to Cornell University as a sophomore and a Policy Analysis and Management major. I got involved with CDNY as a freshman with Binghamton’s chapter. We were very active in campaigning for then Senator Obama’s campaign, making several trips to Pennsylvania to canvass. I had such a great time and looked for more ways to stay involved with CDNY after Election Day. I am a Democrat because I believe in the great potential of the government as a force of progress, in equal rights for all Americans, and in a shared responsibility for the well being of our local and national communities.

Chris Frommann is pursuing a Master of Engineering in Computer Science at Cornell University. He also completed his undergrad education at Cornell with majors in Government and Computer Science in 2009. He is currently the New Media Director for the College Democrats of New York and the Director of Public Relations for the Cornell Democrats. He previously served as Director of Information Technology and in other ad hoc positions on the Cornell Dems.

Chris has been interested in politics for as long as he can remember; he read the New York Times on the bus in elementary school to keep up to date on current events. His first foray into government was working for his state senator in high school. He subsequently worked for Hillary Clinton's 2006 senatorial campaign and volunteered for Governor Howard Dean, Rep Eric Massa, Rep Michael Arcuri, President Obama and others.

He is particularly interested in the intersection between policy, politics and technology and is trying to figure out the best way to combine his technical skills and his desire to make the world a better place. In his spare time, Chris enjoys relaxing with friends (where the conversation often turns political) and designing pretty print and web interfaces.

Adam Peck is a senior at Stony Brook University on Long Island. He has served as the Stony Brook College Democrats' Vice President since 2007.

Adam has been directly involved in several campaigns while at Stony Brook. In 2008, he was the founder and organizer of Stony Brook for Barack Obama, which ran the most successful voter registration drive in the state and boasted a 90% turnout rate on election day. He also served as an intern for Brian Foley, who won his election for the state senate over a 16-time incumbent. In 2009, he was an intern for Bill Thompson during the closer-than-expected election for New York City Mayor. He has also volunteered for several local races in Brookhaven, including two victorious elections for town supervisor.

Outside of the world of political campaigns, Adam works with several media organizations. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief at Think Magazine, an award-winning progressive publication at Stony Brook that he created in 2008. He is also News Director and a host at the campus radio station WUSB, and is currently interning with the MSNBC program Countdown w/ Keith Olbermann.

When he has a free moment, Adam enjoys watching quality television (30 Rock, The Office, Stewart/Colbert to name just a few), working on several pet projects, and doing any number of things with good friends and good music. And he always welcomes a friendly debate over his belief that seagulls are God's most majestic of creatures.

Elsie Raymer is currently a sophomore at Vassar College, where she is working to graduate with a degree in political science and an education certificate. Her recent involvement in politics began in Iowa, Wisconsin, and New York during the Obama campaign and continued to be active in Madison, WI through the Presidential Inaugural Committee and in the Hudson Valley through her position as Vice President for Community and Voter Outreach with the Vassar College Democrats. The same year, the Vassar Democrats became official members of CDNY and Elsie ran to represent the Hudson Valley as Region Chair. Elsie then returned to Wisconsin to intern with her U.S. Representative, Tammy Baldwin in 2009. During her time with the Baldwin office, Elsie had, among others, the privilege of taking the comments of highly impassioned constituents with regards to the heated health care debate. This year, Elsie interned on the Bill Thompson for Mayor campaign in New York City and continues her involvement with the Vassar Democrats as President. Elsie is also a ballet dancer and classical singer and hopes to enter a career in education policy after her graduation in 2012.

David R. Soffer is currently the Capital Region Chair for the College Democrats of New York. Since the age of 13, David has been heavily involved in politics working on numerous state and federal elections, as well as beginning his career at the state capital. David also currently serves as a county committeeman for the Kings County Democrats.

Prior to his position as Capital Region Chair, David has been one of the mainstays of the UAlbany College Democrats' chapter. David helped get the chapter started in 2005 and since has served on the e-board throughout his time as a student. During his tenure on the e-board, David helped the SUNY Albany College Democrats grow from 10 active members to well over 100. He was also instrumental in putting together the proposal to bring the capital district its first CDNY Convention.

In his four years of experience working in New York State government, David has been able to work for and staff great Democrats who believe and advocate many of the important ideals of the Democratic Party. Currently, David is employed by New York State Comptroller Thomas Dinapoli. David looks forward to continuing his service to the public as a New York State employee and possibly one day run for office.

My name is Emily Becker and I am a freshman at Syracuse University and plan to major in Political Science and either Public Policy or African American Studies. I am the State Representative for Syracuse's College Democrats and the Central New York Regional Chair for CDNY. Some of my other activities include Syracuse's Ultimate frisbee team and being Syracuse Basketball's number one fan. I originally got into politics because I have a great fascination of how government is run and how a country functions. I am a firm believer that political apathy is destroying America. For this reason, I love to get involved and I do whatever I can to better society.

My name is Andrew White and I am a sophomore at Cornell University studying History, Classics, and Economics. One of my main interests is foreign policy and its evolution since the end of World War II. Currently, I am the Finger Lakes Region Chair for CDNY and an active member of the Cornell University College Democrats. I was born and raised in San Francisco, CA and have been interested in politics ever since watching the 2000 Presidential Election unfold in the fifth grade.

After watching the painful results of that election, I increasingly became a political junkie, something that has stayed with me. I believe that the most dangerous crisis facing this country in the long term is voter apathy, which has the potential to cripple our political system. Caring about politics is more than just watching the results come in on election night or voting for one candidate- it’s all about the follow through. I see CDNY as one of the best ways to combat this problem. By getting students around the state involved in and excited about the political process, we can begin to beat back this apathy.

Andrew Desmarais is a senior at SUNY Plattsburgh who is double majoring in Political Science and History. A native of Barre, Vermont, Andrew decided to get involved with politics and found the Plattsburgh Democrats and Progressives in November 2008 after the election of Barack Obama. He remains President of the organization until the end of spring semester 2010; he plans not to run for re-election. Andrew was named North Country Regional Chair his junior year and has enjoyed working with the CDNY, the Bill Owens Campaign, and the Vermont Democratic Party. He looks forward to helping out in state and local politics in both New York and Vermont for years to come.

Along with the CDNY, Andrew is a senator for the SUNY Plattsburgh Student Association. He was elected in fall 2009 and is the current ex-officio for environmental sustainability and has been working toward a better, greener campus.

When he is not involved with politics, Andrew can be found at Norwich or Plattsburgh College hockey games, rock concerts in the local region, or doing outdoor activities like mountain climbing, snowmobiling and trying to find the perfect ice cream stand.