Artis Center tour, Military Resource Center meeting highlight visit from Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears

Radford University welcomed Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears to the main campus to tour the new Artis Center for Adaptive Innovation and Creativity, meet with students and learn about university initiatives on Monday, Sept.16.

Earle-Sears and her husband, Terry, joined College of Visual and Performing Arts interim Dean Timothy Channell for a guided walk through the 178,000-square-foot Artis Center to see classrooms, makerspaces, studios and the 500-seat auditorium. Waldron College of Health and Human Services Dean Ken Cox and College of Nursing Dean Wendy Downey invited Earle-Sears into the Artis Center’s clinic, instructional and interprofessional training spaces.

Earle-Sears and her husband, who are both Marine Corps veterans, concluded their Artis Center tour by meeting with students from the Radford University Military Resource Center, a group that included veterans, active reservists and dependents. The students spent 30 minutes with the lieutenant governor, speaking about their service and asking questions. 

“We care [about your service], and we’re so glad you joined,” Earle-Sears told the group.

Earle-Sears was greeted upon her initial arrival to campus by President Bret Danilowicz, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Bethany Usher and Davis College of Business and Economics Dean Donna McCloskey.

Accounting and Finance Professor Abhay Kaushik welcomed Earle-Sears into his Investment Analysis 381 course and invited students to share insights into the Student Managed Investment Portfolio Organization (SMIPO). SMIPO has grown a Radford University Foundation investment of $100,000 in 2002 into a $1.5 million portfolio today.

Earle-Sears told the class that lives and careers tend to unfold like the stock market, a balance of forecasting and adjustments.

“Anyone who says your life has to follow a plan … you've got to jump hurdles,” she said. “You can plot your own course at your own pace and be successful.”

Earle-Sears concluded her visit with Vice President for Economic Development and Corporate Education Angela Joyner at The HUB at Radford to learn about the university’s regional economic outreach and competency-based education within the Vinod Chachra IMPACT Lab.

“We are deeply appreciative of the time Lieutenant Governor Earle-Sears and her husband, Terry, spent touring the main campus and speaking with our students,” Danilowicz said. “Support from Virginia’s elected officials is critical to achieving our mission, and we welcome any opportunity to host them to showcase how we educate and prepare students.”

The lieutenant governor visited Radford University as part of a two-day Southwest Virginia constituent tour, which included stops in Roanoke, Pulaski, Bristol and Wise County.