Fall season
At CSU, one of our favorite things about fall isn’t the cooler air, pumpkin flavored coffee or the beautiful changing leaves, although all of those things are nice. Our favorite thing is the kickoff of football season! It is no secret that football in the South is like a season of its own and we proudly celebrate that here at CSU. We kicked off the season with our very own tailgating spirit week where we all donned the colors of our favorite teams, decorated our workspaces with pride, and had some tasty tailgate cook-off competitions complete with judges!
Student Reading Club
Another fall favorite is finding time to settle in with a new book. We are happy to announce that CSU has kicked off a new student club, CSU Knights Read! Though it is brand new, there are already more than 70 members sharing their love of reading. A new book will be introduced periodically and discussed by the members. Even more excitedly, my very own sister, Chantell Cooley, just published her newest book Winning the Game of Life, which will be the first featured read of the club and offered complementary to members. In the book, she shares our family story along with encouragement, hope and endurance. I encourage you to learn more about CSU Knights Read and Chantell’s newest book.
New AVP of Outreach, Student & Alumni Engagement
As a student or alumni, you may be interested to hear that we have recently hired Caroline Ramagos Walters as the new associate vice president of outreach and student and alumni engagement. Caroline joins us from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College where she was vice president of institutional advancement; she brings a lot of experience with alumni in higher education. We are excited to have her join the CSU family and bring new ideas and a fresh perspective on where we can enhance our outreach to students and alumni.
Regional Alumni Chapters
In moving forward with our regional alumni chapters, CSU will charter its second chapter this month in Pensacola, Florida. On September 24, we will gather at Skopelos from 1-3 p.m. to charter the Gulf Coast Chapter and honor all of the members. We hope any students, alumni or friends of the university will join us in this historical event.
Kansas City event
On August 20, our Student and Alumni Engagement department traveled to Kansas City, Missouri to have brunch with 20 area students, alumni and faculty. Attendees enjoyed getting to know each other in a casual atmosphere and speaking with members of the CSU team. It was encouraging to see many of our military students in attendance, and seeing both students and alumni encouraging one another and bonding over their CSU experiences. It is also neat to see CSU knights arrive as strangers as leave as friends. If you haven’t attended one of our socials yet, be on the look-out for one near you.
God bless,
Robert Mayes
President