SVA @ MTSU Officers

Chapter Officers

 

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Jerry Stewart

Chapter President, 2023 Leadership Fellow

Sophmore, Concrete Industry Management Major.

U.S. Army Veteran 2003 - 2016

Tennessee Army National Guard 2016 - 2020.

Married in 2005 with three children

Currently working for TTL Inc. Nashville.

VFW Smith - Rogers - Reeves Post 4575 Quartermaster 2021 - current

Enjoy's watching NASCAR, going to the gym, helping other Veteran's.

Email: jls2pi@mtmail.mtsu.edu

Ben Thompson

Vice President - Bennie Thompson

Ben Thompson is a native of Tuskegee, Alabama. In 1989, while pursuing an associate’s degree in Electronics, Mr. Thompson sought to endeavor a military career in medical while giving tribute to his diseased brother, Frank P. Thompson Jr, who lost his life near Fort Rucker Army Installation (now Fort Novosel) while serving in the US Army. As reservist, Mr. Thompson served as an infantry corpsman alongside Marine Infantry Group, Company “H”, 3rd Battalion, 23rd Marines from Montgomery, Alabama. During this time, the 2nd Marine Division, whom the infantry group belonged to, was called upon to liberate the city of Kuwait from the throws of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussain, then President of Iraq. This effort earned several citations and merits, among them, the Kuwait Liberation Medal.

Always a passion of his, Mr. Thompson has long dreamed of building small and large structures and landscape features that “stand out” but, early on, didn’t necessarily have the educational guidance in place to aide his curious nature in construction and the natural world. A pandemic induced layoff in 2020, after a diligent 27-year focus in the telecom space, forced a considerable amount of thought about his passions this way, about his future earnings and how he could find the best harmony between them. Those things hard pressing and with a considerable degree of good fortune to his favor, he decided it was now, “with certainty”, a time to pursue interests that could really make those dreams a reality. As a transfer student from Nashville State Community College, Mr. Thompson entered MTSU with honors in the summer of 2022 and hasn’t looked back since. Having embraced the honors college and its challenges, many hurdles are yet to be overcome for Mr. Thompson who struggles with PTSD.

Notwithstanding, Bennie has taken advantage of and enjoy the many opportunities and gifts granted to him prior to entering MTSU and those adventures, towards higher education and the challenges they pose, are no different! Save the children and grandchildren, 6 and 3 in number respectively, this pursuit is likely his greatest adventure to date as they are his inspiration for returning. At 54, he has never been more inspired about his decisions to re-enter academia and looks forward to the next evolution of learning as He strives to encourage all others, in similar circumstance, age bracket or not, to never give up!

Bennie seeks a degree in Concrete Industry Management, Sales and Production concentration, with minors in Business and Honors and will defend a thesis on concrete sustainability. He plans to graduate in the fall of 2024, enter the work force then