Following Andrew Yahkind for a week during his college career could lead you to the line for drinks at Alpha Epsilon Pi, a high school classroom in Detroit or the meetings of The Order of Angell.
- Trevor Campbell
- (ZACHARY MEISNER/Daily)
You’d see a couple study spots too, though. On top of his various activities, Yahkind graduated a semester early with a double major in organizational studies and public policy as well as a 3.86 grade point average.
Yahkind plans to study law at either Harvard or Stanford in the fall. This semester, during the time he took off between the University and law school, he spends much of his time teaching an ACT prep course in Detroit and keeping tabs on the goings-on of the student groups he’s been involved with.
He still participates in The Order of Angell, the senior honor society for which he acted as the regular spokesman during a year of reform for the group.
Yahkind didn’t hold an official public relations position in the group at first, but he came to fill the role as the group’s transition moved forward, The Order of Angell President Sirene Abou-Chakra said.
“It became evident that he was the right person for the job,” she said. “He had a great reputation on this campus.”
Yahkind also helped move along projects like improving study-abroad opportunities for students during his term as president of LSA Student Government last year.
Yahkind tried out working on a few commissions for the Michigan Student Assembly earlier in his career but decided to join LSA-SG instead.
“I wanted to see more tangible results from my work,” he said.
Yahkind has changed a lot himself over his years at the University.
He said he’s now much more open and appreciative of diversity than freshman year, when he arrived on campus from the predominantly white West Bloomfield.
As a freshman, he stuck close to people like himself.
“I made the mistake of falling into that because it’s comfortable hanging out with people who look like you, act like you, have the same background as you.”
He said he loves the University for its “amazing diversity” that he said is available to people who are willing to seek it.
Yahkind is first-generation American. His parents grew up in Eastern European countries while they were controlled by the Soviet Union. His mother is from the Ukraine and his father is from Russia.
He said having parents who have experienced persecution and adversity has pushed him to work hard in every aspect of his life.