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TAPPI Student Chapter Focuses Forward

President leads with desire to give back

With NC State returning to in person in the fall, newly elected TAPPI President Matthew Klassa hopes to return TAPPI back to normal as well. Matthew is a rising senior pursuing dual degrees in Paper Science and Engineering & Chemical Engineering, with dual minors in Business Administration and Cross-Disciplinary Leadership Perspectives. He decided to run for president of TAPPI to give back to the paper science community, he said “this community has played a large role in helping me feel at home on campus and connecting me to incredible opportunities, so I try to take advantage of any opportunity to give others the same or better experience.” He hopes to help the chapter return to normal in-person events and to help others develop their leadership and professional journeys. He ultimately hopes to positively contribute to the “immediate and long-term future of TAPPI.

TAPPI is about teamwork

Matthew has many goals he would like to accomplish as President including increasing participation in TAPPI during the transition back to in-person events. He also plans to “expand [TAPPI’s] professional development and networking opportunities.” He hopes to continue to innovate during these new times and to keep students connected across the chapter, which previous TAPPI president, Andrew Chu did extremely well. Matthew is ready to face these new challenges and will be supported by a team which is listed below:

President: Matthew Klassa

Vice President: Bennett Surrett

Treasurer: Trey Matthews

Secretary: Wallace Layman (Fall) and Gigi Gauthier (Spring)

Program Chair: Natalie Laux

Pre-night Committee: Kyra Attridge, Aitana Blevins, Brandon Sanchez, D’Kayla Thomas (Fall) & Phillip Icard

Publicity Chair: Bryanna Lawry (Fall) and Phillip Icard (Spring)

Service Chair: Anvita  Panajkar (Spring)

Co-Activities Chair: Kara Holland, Angel Boyette (Fall), Victor Yeh (Fall), Jenny Nguyen (Spring)

Fundraising Chair: Ian Seidel

Council Representative: Carlton Emerson

Merchandise Coordinators: Jenny Nguyen and Annie Chen

By guest blogger Bennett Surrett