Ángel Cabrera sends first Mason tweet... more to come?

Dr. Ángel Cabrera, who will become Mason's next president in Summer 2012, sends his first Mason tweet during an interview with Student Media members. (Dakota Cunningham)

The newly selected George Mason University president is on Twitter—and he’s active, too.

@CabreraAngel – Ángel Cabrera in real life – has close to 3,000 followers on Twitter. He's gained a couple hundred since his appointment as president was officially announced this morning, but he’s tweeted over 5,000 times since joining the service. As he told members of Student Media in an interview after his press conference debut, he also has a personal connection to the creator of the Seesmic Twitter app (and yes, that’s the app he uses.)

It’s a change for Mason, and from a quick review, it’s not too commonplace in the world of higher ed for a sitting president to actively tweet. There are several fake university president Twitter accounts, but very few real ones. In the area, there’s @TRINITYPREZ. On the west coast, University of California‘s @mark_yudof is what Washington Post higher ed reporter Jenna Johnson called “prolific.”

President Alan Merten doesn’t tweet. (At least publicly. We haven’t asked if he’s hiding a personal one.)

And the incoming president isn’t the only Cabrera who tweets either. Ángel’s wife, Elizabeth, an organizational psychologist, also maintains an active Twitter presence. Her handle is @bethcabrera.

In a quick “tweet interview” Thursday afternoon, Elizabeth said she and her husband hope to maintain the same tweeting habits when they arrive at Mason.

Connect2Mason was there for Ángel Cabrera’s first Mason tweet, posted below. Cabrera still has six months before officially becoming president. We’ll keep an eye on our streams to see if things stay the same.

After 8 wonderful years at @thunderbird, the Cabreras are moving East. Excited to join the @GeorgeMasonU nation!

— Angel Cabrera (@CabreraAngel) December 15, 2011

3:19 p.m., Dec. 16 While Cabrera was composing his first Mason tweet, the incoming president told us a little bit about his favorite sports team, which he called "the best soccer team in the world" and "in the history of the sport." He also told us a little about what his family thinks about moving east. 

We've posted that clip from our interview below.