A message from Undergraduate Student Senate President Caroline Lohr

Hey Hokies,

My name is Caroline Lohr, and I am the president of the Undergraduate Student Senate (USS). It is a great honor to be able to write to you all about the USS and what we have planned for the upcoming semester.

USS is the student governance organization for the undergraduate body at Virginia Tech; we focus on servant leadership, personal growth, advocacy, and empowering students. The most visible function of our organization is communicating with undergraduate students to gather feedback on what is working on Virginia Tech’s campus and what is not. We then advocate and pass legislation in order to support a better student experience. 

By now, students will have applied to be in the running for senate and cabinet positions. Campaigning will take place this week, so be on the lookout for different campaigns and reach out to those who are running to ask questions! For cabinet roles, the president and vice presidents will have debates discussing different topics about leadership and how they will enact their duties. From Sept. 19-22, polls will be open for students to vote for who they want in each role. This is a great way to be involved in the USS!

After elections are over, we will send out director applications for those who want to apply to hold a leadership role. Directors do not vote in the senate, rather they lead committee meetings surrounding a specific topic that drive their passion! 

We are also planning on supporting the student tailgates at Hokie Village for home games with Student Affairs. These tailgates will be outside of Lane Stadium with food and fun activities! We also have plans to have football watch parties for away games. 

You may not know, but the USS also oversees Hokie Effect! Hokie Effect is the program that sponsors Maroon Out and Orange Out for football games this year. The shirts can be bought online or in the University Bookstore. Funds from shirt sales are split between the USS, athletic scholarships, and the Student Emergency Fund. We hope you enjoy this year’s design, and our team put a lot of effort, time, and energy into making them.

Our social media handle is @ussatvt on Instagram and our email is uss@vt.edu. If you have any questions or want to keep up with what we are doing and what our future plans look like, be sure to follow. Reach out to me if you have any questions at usspresident@vt.edu! Have a great semester and we hope to see you soon! 

Best, 

Caroline Lohr,
President of the USS