Fayetteville State University invited the military community to join them on campus at the Rudolph Jones Student Center Ballroom to honor and appreciate those who have served their county. 

The University hosted their first ever Military Appreciation Luncheon on April 10 to connect with area leaders and provide updates on the status of the school in relation to the local military population and to also highlight goals affecting that community moving forward. 

The lunch began with opening remarks from the Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences  Dr. Marcus Cox, who highlighted the upcoming Institute of Ethics and Leadership set to be within the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Thanks to a donation of  $750,000 received in December of 2022 from William J. Gillis, of Fayetteville, the Institute will bring new lessons, courses and training opportunities straight to students to help train the next generation of leaders.” 

“The Gillings Jones institute for ethics and leadership and Fayetteville State University will promote study ethics and leadership development, specialized academic courses, a guest speaker series featuring prominent military, social, health, business and political leaders who will address the importance of ethical servant leadership,” said Dr. Cox. “The Institute will also host an annual symposium convened to study why ethical behavior and servant leadership are vital to our nation and democracy, and an exploration of best practices that will prepare our students for leadership roles in their chosen fields of study.” 

Event Keynote Speaker Four Star General Michael X. Garrett (retired) addressed attendees to give them thanks, honor and recognition for the sacrifices they’ve made for their country. 

Garrett addressed the crowd for the first time as a member of the Bronco family before being announced that he is now serving as FSU’s Military Executive-in-Residence for the College of Humanities and Social Science.

“It is an honor for me to be now a part of the Bronco family and I'm looking forward to doing all that I can to help our students and faculty learn, grow and serve together. You're going to see me around quite a bit and so, if I had not yet had the honor to meet you, and personally introduce myself, I want you to know that I am looking forward to doing so in the very near future,” said Garrett. “... And so I know how much this institution's students and alumni faculty and neighbors can appreciate that for as powerful as the words and the armed forces oath of enlistment in office may be, what matters most are their actions in following years and decades. These include not only the life altering and headline capturing acts of bravery, we've heard through the years and soldiers serving in battle. But also, as importantly, the daily acts of selflessness, professionalism, and commitment that each of you see and service members perform automatically around this town and around this campus.” 

Following Garrett’s address, Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs Dr. Monica Leach officially announced General Garrett’s new position with the University, along with the goal to grow the enrollment of Military affiliated students from 2,000 to 3,000 by 2025. 

“One of Fayetteville State University's strategic priorities is to continue to grow the level of service and support provided for the military affiliated community…The university also seems to drive growth in training and applied research for the military community offered through the Fayetteville State’s Center for Defense and Homeland Security, FSU center for Enterprise Research, Planning and Advanced Analytics and the FSU Research Corporation.  

I am proud to announce that General Michael X Garrett will serve as our Military Executive-in-Residence in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences here at Fayetteville State University,” shared Dr. Leach.  

Leach also went into details about the new duties and responsibilities Garrett will take on with the new role

“As the Executive in Residence, General Garrett will engage the FSU Division of Academic Affairs under the direction and guidance of Dr. Marcus Cox, Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences to serve as a guest speaker in selected classes, such as intelligence studies,  military history, international politics, and business management. Also, he will assist in the leadership of a community wide speaker series in selected topics of interest. [He will] also lead periodic faculty workshops on such topics as leading, motivating and engaging military affiliated students and advising faculty and staff on opportunities to serve military training and research needs,” shared Dr. Leach.  

Garrett will also participate in student workshops to support the FSU Male Mentoring Initiative and participate in a possible FSU hosted conference on serving military and building aiding students engaged with the FSU division of External Affairs and military relations under the direction of Vice Chancellor Wesley Fountain. 

He will also assist and advocate in the information sharing as appropriate with officials and organizations supporting the military community at the federal, state and regional levels.

Chancellor Allison also spoke on his excitement for the future of the University stating: 

“We’ve got a long way to go, you heard ambitious goals here. In just over two years, we're at a little over 2,000 [military] students, we look to be at 3,000, but that's not all. We want to make sure that this is an environment and we create the right culture for you and those that will be following you,” shared Chancellor Allison. “You know where Four Star Generals go, where they can be…” “To have him to halfway consider coming on as our first ever Executive-in-Residence, in addition to everything else, having to say yes; it says a lot about The General Michael Garrett and we say thank you, thank you, thank you sir.”