SCF Venice Student Veterans President Attends Leadership Summit

State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (SCF) Student Veterans of America (SVA) Venice Chapter President Christopher Davis attended the SVA Leadership Institute in Dallas, Texas Oct. 19-22. The conference was the premier training event for student veterans who are emerging leaders in their chapter, campus and community. Davis was one of 96 attendees chosen from a pool of more than 700 applicants.

Two dozen student veterans were grouped with a mentor who served as a national leader.

“My mentor was Robert A. McDonald, former U.S. secretary of veterans affairs and the retired president and CEO of Proctor & Gamble,” said Davis. “This was a very intensive leadership training program. We are already leaders; this was a program to polish our leadership values.”

The SVA Leadership Institute focused on training attendees to recognize their personal leadership ethos and how to apply it to chapter management. Two overarching values guided the agenda: “know yourself” and “results first, people always.”

The highlight for Davis, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, was a surprise guest speech and Q&A session with former President George W. Bush. “He opened his speech by saying, ‘Some people are pessimistic about the country’s future, but I am not, because of you,’” said Davis.

“Chris has worked diligently this semester, bolstering SVA membership and overall student engagement on the Venice campus,” said William Graydon, veteran services advisor. “It has been a privilege to witness his hard work by engaging student veterans, leading by example, while constantly maintaining stellar academics.”

Davis will graduate from SCF in May 2018 and plans to transfer to a Florida university to pursue a business degree in accounting.

For more information about Veteran Services at SCF, visit SCF.edu/Veterans or contact William Graydon at Graydow@SCF.edu or 941-408-1446. For more information about the SVA, visit studentveterans.org.