On Oct. 23, VSU President Dr. Richard Carvajal gave a speech regarding his standards for the university at SGA’s weekly meeting.

Dr. Carvajal’s first point stated that he wants to increase the graduation rate for VSU and the experience students gain from their degrees.

“If you come here and you accumulate hours and you don’t walk across that stage and shake my hand and get your degree, you don’t put yourself in the best position to benefit yourself, and the city you call home,” Dr. Carvajal said.

For his second goal, Dr. Carvajal said it should be necessary that VSU students receive real-world experience in the work field once they graduate from VSU.

“For the College of Business, a student is required to complete some form of internship or study abroad to be able to graduate,” Dr. Carvajal said. “For the rest of the students, the people that want to hire you expect you to have that same working experience.”

Also, he wants to be the catalyst that encourages VSU students to take on internships and study abroad.

His third goal is to try and take on the challenge of improving the cities and communities that surround campus.

“The impact that we will create are ones in wide varieties of places,” Dr. Carvajal said. “That would include transforming K-12 education, transforming our healthcare system, and transforming the ways we deliver arts and entertainment.”

Dr. Carvajal said VSU administration is allowing students to share their opinions on how to achieve these three goals.

“I always hear ‘if only we would do this, then everything would be great,’” Dr. Carvajal said. “Now it’s your chance to put some words and some verbiage around ‘If only we would do this.’”

Also, Dr. Carvajal and his staff are going to read each of the students’ suggestions and figure out which of these could impact VSU students in a positive way.

He also said that VSU administration is trying to change the way advisors advise students. He said that they are not sure what changes will come from this, but students are encouraged to give the administration or advisors opinions on what could be changed.

Dr. Carvajal promoted the President’s Investiture, an event to celebrate his official start of presidency at VSU. The Investiture Dinner, an invitation only affair, will take place on Thursday, Oct. 26, following a university celebration on the Front Lawn at 6 p.m.

He said that the University Celebration will have live music, games, booths, t-shirt painting, food trucks, and the unveiling of the new official class ring. It is open to all students. The second part of the investiture is the Installation Ceremony where Dr. Carvajal will officially become the tenth president of VSU.

Story by Bryce Decker, Staff Writer. Photo by Bryce Ethridge, News Editor.

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