Brandon Carroll
 
And I look back.....

Good evening ladies and gentlemen.  


Today marks the beginning of a new era of student government at Virginia Tech. Yet, before we embark upon this journey together, we must pause to recognize the individuals who forged the solid framework which has shaped our experience until now. I will begin by thanking past president, Emily Mashack, for her sound leadership over this past year; in addition, I would like to recognize the tireless efforts of the entire student government association as they worked to better our university; a special thank-you to Chief Justice Dana Gilmore and Associate Justice Erica Swanson for their dedication to the election process and this event; and finally, I would like to acknowledge the United SGA team for all that they have accomplished and we look forward to working with them in the future as work to reinvent Virginia Tech.

 

Before I begin tonight, I would like to thank each member of our internal team - those members who will not be sworn in with me, but have worked hard enough to earn these positions. First, I want to thank Taris Mullins, our Chief campaign strategist. Simply put, we would not have won this campaign had it not been for Taris’ structure, commitment to our vision, and unequivocal words. Bo Hart, our campaign manager, helped us reach thousands of students with the tactical execution. Harry Rosenbaum, our graphic designer, who redefined those off-yellow and off-blue colors, by making them the colors of passion, change, and commitment to you, the student. Ryan King, our web designer, who became one of the most dependable, selfless people that I know. John Kurlak, our web developer, who spent countless hours helping thousands of you interact on our site. I have played lacrosse and football, helped a start-up company get off of the ground, consulted for the government, but I have never seen a team like this campaign team. 


I stand before you today humbled by the trust you have bestowed upon me and my team. As we look towards our future, we envision a student government which understands its role in your lives. Yes, we have our goals, we have our missions, and we have our values, but we recognize that for our vision to be successful, each of you must work with us. We are heralding a new era at Virginia Tech, grounded in the voice of you, the students. As we lead this Hokie community, we intend on making it stronger and more cohesive based upon a collective appreciation of unity through difference. 


Virginia Tech has over six hundred organizations focused on different activities and varied ideals and yet only a select few are truly being heard. We hope to defy expectations by moving beyond the conventional bonds and inspiring less vocal organizations to know that we want to hear their opinions as well. Our goal is to reach out to create these lasting partnerships which will continue our progress towards making Virginia Tech a more inclusive community.  


One of our commitments for this upcoming year is sustainability. We congratulate the various sustainability-focused groups on campus who remain keenly aware of how much work is still unfinished. However for the general student, we consider these green initiatives something more than a fleeting fancy, but rather a mindset which each Hokie must embrace. A Native American proverb sums this commitment best: “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; rather we borrow it from our children.” This embodies our understanding, influences our focus, and will inspire our goals. 


I would now like to invite your treasurer Joey Zakutney to offer a few thoughts. 


Throughout my freshman year and into the beginning of my sophomore year I felt invisible.  I was like many of you and arrived at Virginia Tech, excited about the possibility which college held for me. However, after months of classes and D2 dinners, I was still unsure about my place at Virginia Tech.  Everything seemed to move around me at a whirlwind pace, and it was as if I was merely a spectator to the circus of life.  I realized that I was unhappy here and began to question whether or not I was meant to attend this university.  


As I considered my options, I made a discovery. I could leave Virginia Tech and enroll at some other institution, or, I could take hold of my experience and fashion it into what I wanted it to be. So I made a list of the pros and cons and as I stared down at the paper, it dawned on me. My voice was not being heard. My voice, the singular thing which allowed me to establish my individuality and impact those around me was silent. It was in that moment as I sat in my room that I concluded leaving Virginia Tech was not an option. I determined that my voice, and the voice of the goalie on my intramural soccer team, and that of the girl sitting next to me in chemistry class, they all needed to be heard.  


So, today we pledge our commitment to not just hearing your voice, but amplifying it. We want to hear each of you and will listen to your thoughts, opinions, and ideas so that they can influence our vision to reinvent Virginia Tech.  We know that in our community there are those who feel underrepresented, unaccounted for, and overlooked, but our hope is to reach out to you and bring every viewpoint into our discussion to make our student government an organization which universally serves you, the students.  


I would now like to invite your secretary Morgan Bradley to offer a few thoughts. 


The saying goes that college will be the best four years of our lives.  And yet we are spending hours waiting in line at West End, evenings searching for answers about advising, and afternoons wondering whether or not we can find a group to fit in with. We recognize that your experiences at Virginia Tech will be far more memorable than any class taken in McBryde 100 and we want to have a direct effect on this. We feel that your lifestyle could be enhanced in many ways, by helping you cultivate faculty relationships, or connecting you with people who share your interests, or maybe, just minimizing the time you spend waiting in line for a smoothie. We believe that it is the task of student government to make these differences and we know that we will. 


To consider your lifestyle a solely individual experience is limiting your potential.  We envision a Hokie community which embraces and embodies our university motto of “Ut Prosim.” Not just in form or fashion, but in daily action and impact. Service to others and the growth which it creates will undoubtedly alter your experience and memory of Virginia Tech. We believe that this is the responsibility of every Hokie. To be more than just a passionate football fan, or a straight-A student, or the weekend socialite, but rather we want to challenge ourselves and our community to actively serve others to better our collective experience.  


Finally, we affirm the legacy which the Principles of Community seek to define and hope to embody their virtues in our daily actions. These tenets will serve as the guides for our future and will provide the blueprint for our vision in the months to come.  


I would now like to invite your vice-president Shane McCarty to offer a few thoughts. 


This evening you have heard remarks from my teammates about our plans for next year. However, I would like to focus on you and your role in this leadership process. The four of us are privileged right now and stand here as the elected leaders for this school, and yet we disagree. Yes, we are leaders in title, but the true leaders of this great university are among you today. Leading the student body is not solely our role as, the Student Government Association, but rather the role of every individual student here at Virginia Tech. Over the course of our campaign, we spoke with countless students and the insights which they shared have shaped our goals and plans for the upcoming year.   


Our vision was based on one fundamental idea: All of the students at Virginia Tech are leaders. And, we promised, that together, we would work to bring out the best in all of us - the leadership in all of us - to make Virginia Tech the best it can be.  
 
The world has seen our Hokie community as one which has certainly been tested. But we know our potential is far from its full realization, and this is the challenge that we will meet. At the completion of our term, we are certain that new legislation, impactful ideas, and enduring relationships, will occur because of you. 
 
But, more importantly, we want Virginia Tech to become synonymous with an actively caring culture.  We envision a landmark institution where Hokies help other Hokies, not for recognition or status, but simply because we care. To make Virginia Tech the best it can be, all of us will need to lead like we know we can. This is our school. These are our friends and mentors. And this is the rich and lasting legacy we can leave if we work together. 


I would now like to invite your President Brandon Carroll to offer some final remarks. 


The time has come to begin reinventing Virginia Tech. We told you during our campaign that no team would work harder for you than us, and that begins now. We can not promise that our vision will be achieved instantly, or in one week, or even in one semester, but we can promise that our vision will based upon you, the students.  


We are the Student Government Association of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and our name declares our focus, the student. We will ask for your feedback, your insights, and your ideas, and we will reward your active participation by working together to improve our university. The student is our focus, the student is who we are working for, and at our core we dedicate this year to being all about you, the student.  


Thank you for your support and we look forward to what this year holds. Have a wonderful evening. 
 
 

 
 
This speech is given to all the potential Hokies!

Hokie Focus Speech

Good Morning!

Life is about being the best that you can possibly be. Let me say that again. Life…is about being….the best…you can possibly be.

Martin Luther King once said, “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michael Angelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare composed poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper, who did his job well.”

Virginia Tech is about…being…the best you can possibly be.

My name is Brandon Carroll and I am the SGA President. It’s funny…because people say to me…wow you are the Student Government Assocaition President. I always respond, “no..I wouldn’t say it like that. My passion is to empower people. I desire to impact as many people as possible. Being the Student Body President is the vehicle, not the outcome; it allows me to impact others.” There is a big difference

Our central focus is the student voice, the collective voice. We aim to amplify it, and we strive to substantiate it.

What I have learned in my time as SGA President is simple: find your passion and follow your passion. You are all faced with an amazing opportunity. A choice that will forever shape your life.

When I first came here to Virginia Tech, I thought everything was about independence. At the time, I was an 18 year old teenager, I was too young to do what adults do, too old to do what kids do….so I did what nobody else would do….to assert my independence. That was my paradigm, my mindset, when I first came to Virginia Tech.

Boy was I wrong. If you decide to come to this University, you are going to learn that it’s about interdependence and not independence. Through interdependence, we get synergy, which means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.  If you really want to be the best you can be, you have to work within a system that gives you synergy.

You see, being a Hokie is not a mercenary relationship. It is not a business proposition. It is not an exchange of goods and services for money. It is a shared bond, a love that comes from somewhere we don't understand and can't explain to others. We do not take from this university; it gives to us. Perhaps when we first arrive on its campus, we have our own selfish interests in mind, but by the time we leave, we are transformed. We are Hokies. 

If you do decide to join the Hokie family, Come here not only to live (pause) but to thrive. I stand here today, looking into a room of limitless opportunity; (pause) however your time is limited.  The problem with opportunity is that it can’t do a thing for you unless you make it.

I started the speech by saying: Life is about being the best you can possibly be. Now, I want to ask some of you what you want to be the best in. Before this speech, I met some students who I asked to speak up during this section. Brain from Boulder, Colorado what do you want to be the best in? (I want to get the best grades)….

 ….Academics. Hmm…..When I think of Virginia Tech, I think of a land of opportunity. A place of higher learning that truly invents the future. If you want it, we have it. If you want the opportunity to learn from world-class faculty, to collaborate with some of the brightest students in the world, and to take risks and expand your boundaries, then Shane, Virginia Tech is the right place for you.

Kelly from Burke, VA – what do you want to the best in? I want to be the best friend I can be and help others. When I think of Virginia Tech, I think of an actively caring community, where people go above the call of duty to help others. We are not an independent community; like I said earlier….rather we are interdependent. You see, we need each other and we show we care about one another. We as Hokies put more into relationships than we receive, and we embrace that concept.

Pantak -  What do you want to be the best in? I want to join the Corps of Cadets and serve our Country and be the best solider I can be. First, let me just say thank you for your commitment to protect our freedoms. Let’s give Pantak a round of applause….thank you for your service and protecting our freedoms. Well, Pantak….as you know...our motto…our foundation is this idea of Ut Prosim, which means that I may serve. It is one of the pillars that hold our University strong. At Virginia Tech, we value servant leadership.


As I mentioned earlier, my experience leading Virginia Tech as SGA President pointed me to: find my passion and follow my passion. My passion is to empower and impact others. I want to show you I care about your huge decision coming up. My e-mail is brandoncarroll@vt.edu. E-mail me anytime - I am here to answer your questions. I want you to make the right decision and live a fulfilling life.

 
So, to all of the potential Hokies, the Virginia Tech community affirms the value of each individual and welcomes you as the person you are.  So, find your passion in life, your courage, and your voice, but most importantly and you may discover yourself.
 
 
April 16th Speech
Listen here

 
Good evening my fellow Hokies. Today, I stand before you on the third anniversary of the darkest day in Virginia Tech history. The day a tragedy of monumental proportions struck our campus. I am here today to remember the 32 beautiful lives we lost, and to try to ensure this day of remembrance never fades away from our community.

 

I want to begin this evening’s vigil by quoting the editor of TechSideline, Will Stewart, who described what being a Hokie is all about. "Being a Hokie is not a mercenary relationship. It is not a business proposition. It is not an exchange of goods and services for money. It is a shared bond, a love that comes from somewhere we don't understand and can't explain to others. We do not take from this university; it gives to us. Perhaps when we first arrive on its campus, we have our own selfish interests in mind, but by the time we leave, we are transformed. We are Hokies."

 

What I learned from April 16th is one simple lesson: Love shines through

 

I still feel the love and warmth from the 32 lives taken away from us too soon. Every day, I go to class….. I see the memorial and I truly feel their spirit. They are with us when we are weak, and they are supportive when we are strong. Their memories live on today.

 

I will never forget the outpouring of support our community saw from across the world. Cards of encouragement to help ease the pain, quilts to warm the heart, and visits that ranged from Alaska to Australia to show they cared.

 

 

The media tried to divide our community, but love guided the way. Evil entered our campus and took a part of our community from us. What we have learned is that evil will not define us. We are a community bonded together by a special sense of love that cannot adequately be explained with words. We are a family who put more into relationships than we receive and we embrace that concept. We will continue to live for 32. Their lives are forever etched in our hearts. Their memories will not wither away….

 

We appreciate the expected support of candle vigils tonight, but please do not light your candles until all 32 candles surrounding the memorial are lit.  There are 32 Hokies who will take the collective light from the 24-hour candle and begin to spread the light that shines from above. The light comes from inside of Burruss to signify that Virginia Tech will never forget.

 

Once the vigil is lighted, we will take the light from the ceremonial light and remember those who lost their lives on April 16, 2007 and spread their light into the community and share it with the world.

 

We are here today to remember. Their memories live on. Do we Cry? Do we Reflect? Do we Love More? We all grieve in our own separate ways. But, what we have learned is that we are not independent. Rather, we are interdependent. We lean on one another, we need each other....our community is stronger, our lives are forever changed.  We now truly understand what it means to be a Hokie. The 32 embody what we all aspire to be and their memories live on today. Do not let this day of remembrance be forgotten. Let love light the way. Let love shine through.
 
 
Below is the full text for my "farewell" speech. The last speech I will ever make as the official Virginia Tech SGA President....


Inauguration Speech

Good Evening. Tonight is a great night. It is a celebration of the past, present, and the future. SGA started in 1965 as the official voice of the undergraduate students at Virginia Tech. Through the years, we have seen activism like in 1971 when Sandy Hawthorne organized a sit-in to protest the Vietnam war and the Kent State shootings….to more recently the establishment of Relay for Life, the Big Event, and the Hokie Effect.

When I look back at this past year, I cannot help but smile. What an opportunity. Where else in my life will I have the opportunity to make a tangible impact in the lives of over 23,000 students? Where else in my life will I be a student leader in the most amazing place in the world? The Hokie Nation builds leaders of high character. Leaders who value integrity, selflessness, and passion.

Stop and reflect for one second. You are all members of the Hokie Nation. To the students here tonight, we are in college. Not just any college, but one of the top Universities in the country. We have it better than 99% of the world.

What a special place.

We are a family bound by a special sense of love that cannot be adequately explained with words. We put more into relationships than we receive and we embrace that concept

What a special place

We have administrators like Leon McClinton sitting in the audience here tonight who truly care about students. I want to tell you a story about Leon when he first arrived here at Virginia. Many of you have heard this story, but for those of you who have not, here it goes: I was an RA in Pritchard and I was putting on a program for the ACC championship game when this new guy decides to come in and sit down. He looked kind of young, but no one wanted to say anything. The freshman in the lounge were a little bit intimidated. He literally sat on the floor with the 50 or so people already there and just decided to hang out with a bunch of freshman on a Saturday afternoon. Finally, someone had the courage to say “who are you?” Was he a complex director? An RA? He responds, “Well, I am the new Director of Res Life.” Everyone was amazed. Wow, the new Director of Residence Life took some time out of his day…to just…hang out with some students. My residents later told me that they were so amazed that Leon stopped by. He was easy to talk to, he was genuine, and we all had a great time. You see he actively cares for students. He genuinely has an interest in our welfare. It’s the little things that matter. Leon, I know you don’t like when I tell that story…but you know what.... those least looking for recognition are usually the most deserving.

What a special place

We have students like this year’s Executive Director of the Year, Brittany Anderson, who go above and beyond the call of duty for the welfare of the University. From organizing the largest Hokie Day ever to being heavily involved with Richmond politics, Brittany has single handily done more for SGA in the past 4 years that I have been in SGA combined. She helped change the fact that the state was going to take student fee money out of our reserve fund. She strengthened our relationship with other VA schools and showed leadership by serving as the chair of the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia Student Advisory Council.

What a special place

Now, let’s move onto the future of SGA. First and foremost, to Bo, Greer, Corbin, and Emily….congratulations. You all are about to embark on an incredible journey. I want to leave tonight with some words of wisdom that I have acquired over the years, a quote, and a challenge.

My words of wisdom start directed at you Bo. I advise you not to become the SGA President. Become the person who desires to impact students. Become the person who strives each and every day to make a tangible difference in the lives of every single undergraduate student here at Virginia Tech. Use SGA President as the vehicle to impact others. There is a big difference.

To the four of you, you report only to the student body at Virginia Tech. You will not always agree with the administration, you do have to work with them, but you do not have to follow their orders. Your job is to be loyal to students…ABOVE the University. Put students first. Period.

Your inputs will greatly exceed your outputs. Understand that understand that you may fail. Failure is an option, fear is not. Go in fearless. Use your failures as motivators.

My quote for you is this: "There are three types of people in the world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened.

Make things happen. Bend the rules. Rather than ask for permission, beg for forgiveness.

And my challenge for you is this: Be a leader and build a team of leaders. You are probably thinking, well what does that mean? First, leadership is an action. When you are here next year on the podium giving your words of wisdom to the newly elected officers,, judge thyour year by what you accomplish, not what you do. There is a big difference.

You know what makes a leader? A leader is passionate. A leader truly believes in the mission of the organization. A leader always has a team-first attitude. A leader is self-motivated.


Surround yourself with leaders and you will find success.

It has been a pleasure, I wish you much luck in the future, and again congratulations.