It’s hard to think that there’s a pack of students on campus more intimidating than the football team. Think again, because a group of eight freshman girls have been taking Carnegie Mellon by storm and invoking fear in the football players, especially when they’re all wearing the same sweatshirt. Meet Cheyenne Bell, Ali Dettmer, Missy Dominick, Alison Fierst, Tanvi Joshi, AnnaMarie Kun, Jennifer Lott, and Grant Wilmer, collectively known as the “CMCrew.” As floor mates on the Two East (“Tweast”) wing of Donner, these talented girls have quickly found their places at CMU and are continuing to rise in the ranks of campus stardom. Already celebrities at the salad station at the Exchange and the pasta station in Tartan’s Pavilion, these girls are not only gaining recognition as the CMCrew but also as individual students.
Cheyenne hails from Los Angeles, California, and is studying Architecture. She is no stranger to the Campus Celebrity fame, having been featured for her role in co-founding the CMU Figure Skating Club. Among the CMCrew, Cheyenne holds the record for pulling the most all-nighters, clocking in around 20. When she’s not working tirelessly in studio, she enjoys hiking, Razzy Fresh, and most importantly, sleep. In August Cheyenne will be representing the CMU Figure Skating Club at the US Figure Skating Association Collegiate Championship right here in Pittsburgh.
A NoVA (Northern Virginia) native, Ali is a music major studying Flute Performance. She has the highest pH in the group, around 14, making her very basic. Ali enjoys Netflix, reading, memorizing YouTube videos, and singing Disney songs in a Russian accent (rather, doing anything in a Russian accent). One of her most prized possessions is a Post-It note signed by Raven Symone, and her proudest accomplishment is being able to rap Ludacris’s part in “Baby” by Justin Bieber (she also wants you to know that Luda went to her high school). After college she hopes to follow in her dad’s footsteps and play in a military band.
Missy, AKA “Missy D,” “Melisma,” or “the kid in the red,” is a Neuroscience major from Phoenix, Arizona, playing on the Women’s Soccer team here at CMU. As a former oboe player, Missy enjoys late night jam sessions in CFA rather than doing her chemistry homework. She religiously watches The Voice and has an unparalleled love for Chris Jamison. If the CMCrew were the Avengers, Missy would be Nick Fury. She hopes to continue to medical school and find a man who looks like a Ken doll.
Alison shares almost everything with Ali: a name, a major, a room next year, but not her beautiful hometown of Point Pleasant, New Jersey. Alison is involved in many music ensembles on campus. Her favorite pastimes include watching Netflix, napping, and not doing her Interp homework. Despite her love for Chris Hemsworth and Tobey Maguire (whom she defends is the better Spiderman), she has a soft spot for lumberjacks. She hopes to play in soundtrack orchestras after pursuing her Masters in Flute Performance, and then retire to live in Jen’s library as Owl Eyes from The Great Gatsby.
Tanvi, also known as “T,” is a Chemical Engineering/Engineering and Public Policy double major from East Lansing, Michigan. On campus she is involved in Student Dormitory Council and will serve as the Dining Chair for next year. She would like everyone to know that she successfully survived 15-112 last semester. In her spare time Tanvi enjoys Indian dance and watching Supernatural, though she often cannot choose between Dean and Sam. In the CMCrew she is the most likely to panic and has a lot in common with Neville Longbottom.
Anna, originally from Pittsburgh, is studying Social and Decision Sciences and Policy and Management. She has a fascination with Harry Potter, piercings, tattoos, and swearing. She has gotten 11 piercings, two tattoos, and a whole lot of swag. Anna is the loudest member of the CMCrew, especially when it comes to uncomfortable topics that are not fit for public ears. Her future is as open as her mind, but she low-key hopes to be a writer someday. Anna would like you to know that mayonnaise is not, in fact, an instrument.
Better known as “Mama Jen,” Jen is a Chemical Engineering major from just north of Pittsburgh. She is the voted Mom of the CMCrew and is somehow able to maintain some semblance of order. On campus she is the other half of the CMU Figure Skating Club, a member of Dancers’ Symposium, and a Public Relations Officer for the CIT First-Year Advisory Board who will next year serve as the SWE Publicity Chair, a member of CIT CBC, and a writing tutor in the Global Communication Center. She somehow finds time to do all of this while still spending a ridiculous amount of time at the gym, which she cites as her primary bae.
Grant comes to CMU from her beloved city of Atlanta, Georgia. Though she is not entirely sure of her major (she is leaning toward Social and Decision Sciences), she is sure of her girl crush on Olivia Wilde, whom she once saw on a plane. Grant is a member of the Women’s Soccer team and can frequently be seen shuffle-running across the soccer field. She is low-key the best singer in the CMCrew and has patented her trademark “Grant dance.” Grant is an underground rapper by the name of Grant:ChainZ and hopes to drop her first album soon.
As a group, the CMCrew enjoys holding “BaeWatch” sessions, during which they sit in a circle and talk about boys. They also enjoy casting themselves in movies; for example, if the CMCrew were the Avengers, Ali would be Captain America, Alison would be Thor, Jen would be Loki, Missy would be Nick Fury, Grant would be Hawkeye, Tanvi would be Iron Man, Anna would be Black Widow, and Cheyenne would be the Hulk. The CMCrew is very supportive of each other but often express it in unorthodox ways by making ridiculous bets to get each other to do things they want to do but are too nervous to. They eat a lot of pasta. They have probably eaten their weight in pasta this year. Next year they look forward to eating more pasta, making more shenanigans, and becoming an even stronger group of friends.