Oklahoma State University Student Veterans Organization

Greetings, My name is Alex Ruppert, and as some of you may already know, I am an advisor for the Student Veterans Organization. I spent six years in the Marine Corps Reserves as an Ammo Tech in Greenville, SC. My wife and I moved to Stillwater in 2019, for jobs at OSU, and have been here since. In addition to my duties as the SVO advisor, I am also an Outreach Programs Coordinator at the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship. I am emailing you today to inform you about how the ...SVO will function over the next few weeks. The organization has taken a slight downturn in membership and engagement, and my goal is to revitalize the organization. Below is a sequence of events that I have devised in order to get the SVO back on its feet. Phase 1: Increasing Membership July 27, 2020 August 31, 2020 Over the course of the past year, the SVO has declined in membership. Phase 1 is designed to assist in bringing our numbers back up. If you are not a member in CampusLink, I encourage you to join the organization via the link below. The SVO is currently open to all reservists, veterans, and dependents. https://campuslink.okstate.edu//student-veterans-organizat Phase 2: Election Nominations September 1, 2020 September 7, 2020 Once all those who are interested in joining the organization have had an opportunity to join, we will begin the process of electing our officers. Any interested reservists, veterans, and dependents may nominate themselves into any position they feel qualified to fill. Previous involvement with the SVO is NOT required for this election. Interested parties will be required to provide a short video that outlines your background and why you feel you are the best fit for the position. More information will be given as we get closer to this point Phase 3: Elections September 8, 2020 September 14, 2020 We will hold all elections virtually through CampusLink. More information will be provided as we approach the election. Phase 4: Restructuring September 14, 2020 & Beyond In November 2019, the SVO voted to re-write and restructure the constitution of the SVO. Due to extenuating circumstances, this never occurred. The elected officers will be required to work with me to draft a new constitution for the members to ratify. Following this, the organization will function with limited oversight from me, the academic advisor. I want to stress that while I am working to rebuild the organization, it is still a STUDENT veteran organization.

Good Afternoon, After a vote of 6 to 4, the SVO has voted to allow dependents to hold office in the organization. When we hold our new elections, dependents WILL be permitted to run. I want to clarify a few things following this vote. The first is that this was a vote that everyone had an opportunity to participate in and this is what the majority of the votes dictated. I hope that even if you voted No, you will accept that the majority of the organization voted Yes. Unf...ortunately, that is how things tend to go in situations like these. We don’t always get what we want. Second, I want to point out that this only allows dependents to run for office in the SVO. It does not appoint them. If you believe that a dependent running for office is not fit for that role, ensure that you vote for an individual that you believe is best suited for the position. I will be sending you updates regarding the elections next week. Have a good weekend and stay safe!

Please take advantage of this wonderful free event! https://news.okstate.edu//osu-symposium-brings-together-fe

Ready to fail? Listen to entrepreneurs share their failure stories to understand that it's an opportunity to learn and grow at the Riata Center Fail Up Night!... 5:30-7 p.m. Feb. 20 BU 130 See you there!