Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 25, 1993 TAG: 9308250136
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
As the new president of its Student Government Association, Stephenson, 20, is the first student not a senior as well as the first black to win that position. All the other officers are seniors.
He grins at the thought of running again and winning the post in his senior year, but he has been too busy to think of that right now.
"I have no idea," he said. "Honestly, I can't say. We'll see when that time approaches."
But being a two-term president wouldn't be a first. Another student, who attended Tech for five years, served twice.
Of course, Stephenson laughed, he could stay five years and try for three terms, but quickly added that he will be gone at the end of his fourth year to attend law school.
SGA candidates run during the spring semester, and spend 2 1/2 weeks in a university-wide campaign. Stephenson thrived on it.
"Politics is something you can enjoy. It's not all evil and deceitful and cruel . . . as many people perceive it to be," he said.
"That's what I aspire to do later on is public service, preferably on the national level," he said.
Stephenson already has mastered the political science of acronyms.
To provide information to students 24 hours a day on everything from bus schedules to meeting times, he and the other officers have started "SNAP" - the Student News Automated Phoneline.
They ran on a platform called "Students FIRST" - Forever Interested in Restoring Student Trust.
They are starting the Leadership Experience for Advancement and Development - "LEAD" - for freshmen and sophomores to orient them toward leadership positions. That acronym is a spinoff of yet another acronym - "TAP" - the Training Apprentice Program.
They campaigned on innovative ideas, and having the Student Government Association come up with more events for students instead of only representing them. Plans this year include looking into the drop-add date and credit requirements, improving campus safety and relations with the community, studying alcohol-awareness issues, planning human-relations events and producing student forums.
The association also is trying to arrange bus trips to out-of-town football games.
The officers are working with the Residential Hall Federation and Virginia Tech Union to provide free message and memo boards for each dorm room. The bulletin board would have not only emergency phone numbers but numbers students could call to become involved in campus activities.
"And then we have a few other things that are going on," Stephenson said. For instance, there is Hokie First, a new organization with free memberships for staying informed on campus events and issues.
Change can be threatening to some, Stephenson said. Instead, he likes to call these innovations "tradition in motion."
As SGA president, Stephenson is something of a phenomenon in motion himself.
At Tech, he started out in the engineering program - in fact, that program was one reason he came to Tech - but has switched to political science.
As an engineering student, he also worked for two summers at Cannon Virginia's plant in Newport News, about 15 minutes from his home, where Cannon manufactures Hewlett-Packard printers.
He had a job there once he graduated in engineering, but gave that up when he changed majors.
Stephenson began his engineering interest in high school, where he also played sports.
"I enjoyed creating things," he said. "I find it a fascinating field. It's something that changes constantly."
But so does politics, and Stephenson believes he can bring analytical thinking and his business experience into that arena.
"Besides, I tend to think diversity is good," he said. "And I've had a lot of business experience."
That has included the Junior Achievement program, working for his grandfather and uncle in businesses they own and a variety of jobs at Cannon during his two summers there such as handling funds, buying products, overseeing assembly lines and construction projects.
"They couldn't figure out what to call the position that I held," he said. "That was the best thing about it. I was given the chance to work on my own."
The experience helped him pace himself at Virginia Tech this summer as the new SGA honcho, when he would start his work day at 8 a.m. and sometimes still be there at midnight. He was able to take multiple tasks and complete them on given deadlines, he said.
"The only problem is trying to get others to do the same thing," he said.
by CNB