Student Body President Delivers 2018 State of the Campus Address

Members of Concordia’s Student Senate gathered on Tuesday evening to meet the new officers, enjoy an ice cream social, and listen to senior and Student Body President Vanessa Marsh’s state of the campus address. A transcript of Marsh’s speech can be found below:

State of the Campus Address, September 2018

I am going to keep this state of the senate address very short because, as a communication major, I know that if I were to start rattling off procedures, legalistic technicalities and other such jargon, I would hold your attention for about 17 seconds. I can’t in good conscience do that to you. So, instead, I’m going to make my public speaking professor proud and tell you all a story.

Last night, I was making dinner and decided, hey, I’ll listen to the last State of the Union address, get talking in the right way, stuff like that.

So there I was, preparing my dinner, and I realized that, for the past 20 minutes, President Trump had been thanking all these individuals, these random citizens, for various things. Honestly, I was kind of confused. I thought the State of the Union address was (supposed to be about) complicated tax policies, international conflicts, and other such things that are actually really hard and complicated to understand. But more than half of the speech this far was actually applause and standing ovations in honor of these citizens and the work that they did.

And I realized, that is the best way to address the union: by recognizing, honoring and thanking the people who work very hard to make this country a better place to live. Because it’s the people, after all, who do the bulk of the work. It’s the people who start movements and make ideas, hopes and dreams a reality.

In the same way, our own Student Senate is filled with people who are passionate, hardworking and worthy of our thanks.

Even though Student Senate hasn’t been in session yet this year, I know that many of you have already been investing time and energy into improving things for the senate. I would like to take this time to thank one of those individuals, Lindsey Overbeck. Lindsey is a beautiful student who made (a) beautiful trifold for us. It has some really great pictures on it that summarize many of the projects that we have worked on in the past and some that we will continue working on. We have already used it at the Activities Fair. Lindsey, please stand so that the senate can thank you for your hard work.

I wish that I could take the next 20 minutes to thank all of you individually. Still, I know that you are all going to do amazing things this year. You are all such smart, dedicated and determined men and women, and it is truly an honor to get to represent your thoughts, ideas and opinions beyond (the) senate.

If you’re someone who isn’t sure yet whether you want to continue coming to Student Senate, consider this your invitation: Come, and make a difference right here where God has put you. Thank you all for your time and your attention.