Courtney Anigian selected to join the Bush School's Ambassadors Council

2013 Dec 17

Courtney Anigian was selected to join the Ambassadors Council at the Bush School of Government and Public Service this fall, representing the class of 2015. Four students were recently selected to serve on the the Bush School Ambassadors Council, a new student group that represents the Bush School at special events, development functions, and alumni and recruitment events. Primarily, the ambassadors are student liaisons to special guests and students invited to come to the Bryan/College Station community.

The new ambassadors are Courtney Anigian, Laura Griffith, Daphne Hiatt, and Max Shanstrom, all students pursuing a degree in the Master's Program in International Affairs (MPIA) at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. There are now twenty-six members of the group, chosen by the organization's selection committee. The Ambassadors Council concept came from a group of students who convinced the administration that they could be major assets to the School's external relations activities. Their aim is to reinforce the School's emphasis on professionalism and discipline in public service careers. Members are selected for their competence, social awareness, dependability, and integrity, as well as their ability to represent the Bush School.

Brandon Pichanick, chief ambassador of the Council, said the organization's purpose is to help the School as the student body increases. "We believe that having students engaged in various activities can be a plus in the School's external relations activities," he said. "Our job is to be the student connection between the institutions and organizations connected to the Bush School who regularly invite people to the campus," he added.

The ambassadors seek to make sure guests feel welcome and special during their time at the Bush School. "Our members have to be as comfortable conversing with national and international guests as they are with a lost undergraduate trying to find his or her way around the School," said Pichanick.

Founded in 1997, the Bush School of Government and Public Service has become one of the leading public and international affairs graduate schools in the nation. The School is now ranked in the top 12 percent of the 266 graduate public affairs schools in the nation, according to rankings published in U.S. News & World Report magazine. The School now ranks thirty-third among both public and private public affairs graduate programs and twenty-first among public universities.

The School's philosophy is based on the belief of its founder, George H.W. Bush, that public service is a noble calling--a belief that continues to shape all aspects of the curriculum, research, and student experience. In addition to the Master of Public Service and Administration and the Master's Program in International Affairs, the School has an expanding online and extended education program that includes Certificates in Advanced International Affairs, Homeland Security, and Nonprofit Management.

More information about the Bush School can be found at http://bush.tamu.edu/.