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Jes Davis

Jes Davis
Jes Davis

It’s hard to think of VT Engage or Virginia Tech without thinking of Jes Davis.

Her nominator wrote, “I cannot even remember when I first met Jes. All of a sudden, Jes was on campus and involved in a ton of different projects and initiatives. Jes is on numerous Student Affairs committees and she is always lending a helping hand. Anytime there is a call for volunteers, Jes is the first person who signs up.”

A first-generation college student, Jes came to Virginia Tech in 2017 as a student engagement coordinator for VT Engage. Now Associate Director for VT Engage, she provides direction and oversight for leadership education, service learning, and civic engagement programs.

Jes has an unyielding work ethic and shows up again and again for her community. She established voter engagement and education initiatives at Virginia Tech which resulted in national recognition. She serves as co-chair of the LGBTQ+ Caucus and as a member of the Lavender House Living Learning Community Steering Committee. She leads and facilitates the VT Engage Student Leader Advisory Board. She is involved with the Student Affairs tailgate initiative, Virginia’s League of Women Voters, and the Town of Christiansburg Planning Commission. All this while she is working towards a Ph.D. in Higher Education and serving as Adjunct Faculty for the Department of Agriculture, Leadership, and Community Education.

Jes is 100 percent all in on something she cares about, which is a lot of different things.

Her nominator said, “What's most powerful about her skill to bring others together is that Jes models it for the rest of us -- and makes it look so easy that we want to try, too. Jes is a beautiful example of what our world needs: an engaged citizen who understands their role in the world and the positive impact they can have on others if they care enough to show up every day.”

Jes said, “I believe in the inherent humanity that exists in everyone. I believe in the collective power that we hold and that we are stronger together. The world can be a terrible and scary place, but we have the ability to work and change it. It’s not an easy job but it’s a worthwhile endeavor.

“You’re going to get things wrong,” she said. “You’re going to fail or mess up. AND IT’S OKAY. Our job is not to achieve perfection. We live in an imperfect world that we are all trying to navigate. When we do mess up, it’s our job to own it, apologize, and do better.”

Jes said, “Civility to me is about conversations and how might I step outside of my worldview to better understand those who disagree with me. It's the ability to freely and openly exchange ideas. There will inevitably be differences and disagreements. And that's okay; it's needed. We need people to think differently in order to create positive social change in our communities.”

I am pleased to present the Aspire! Award for Practice CIVILITY to Jes Davis.