Danny Bittker & Courtney Meyer
Tower Guard: A Tradition of Service Continued
The Tower Guard is a constant presence in the RCPD office. "Without them, the RCPD couldn't do everything we do," Alternative Testing Facilitator Pam Pope says.
Started in 1934, the "Q Girls" was founded by the wife of a former MSU president as a female honor society meant to serve the needs of students with visual impairments. Now known as Tower Guard, the organization began permitting outstanding young men to join its ranks and work to uphold its pillars of leadership, service, scholarship, and character in 1977. Throughout the course of the year, members assist students with visual and print-related disabilities in a partnership with the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities.
The oldest active MSU-based student organization, the Tower Guard is steeped in tradition. As the only student organization to hold the key to Beaumont Tower, the Tower Guard maintains the history of one of MSU's oldest buildings. In its early days, the 20-25 members met and planned events on its second floor, but today, membership of nearly eighty sophomores allows only the officers to maintain this connection to the past.
Tower Guard remains active on campus by providing annual Homecoming tours of Beaumont Tower and coordinating the Shamrock 5K Run/Walk/Roll. What began as a fundraiser for the RCPD in 2001 still continues to attract hundreds of participants today ready to travel the campus on a fully accessible trail. Despite the snow, Pope believes this year's event was still a success. "It was one of the best events ever. It very well organized and had a terrific turnout." As a reflection on their year, members gather outside the Beaumont Tower in early May for another tradition called May Morning Sing. Bringing together newly inducted members, RCPD staff, MSU administrators, and the outgoing Tower Guard members, the event showcases the group's accomplishments over the past year and highlights its dedication to their fellow students.
As someone who works daily with Tower Guard members to ensure student accommodations are complete, Pope is a testament to their dedication. "Each year we get a new group [of students] but it only gets better and better," she said. Inducted into the organization from the top five percent of their freshman class, members complete over 85% of the center's reading for visually impaired students, each contributing 120 service hours per year. In 2007, a partnership between the director and then president Piper Marunick created an endowment which began awarding past Tower Guard members for their service and outstanding campus leadership in 2009.
At the annual Awards and Appreciation Reception, the Tower Guard was presented with the Outstanding Volunteer Organization Award. This award recognized the outstanding efforts of the organization in helping to maintain an environment of opportunity and excellence. "As far as registered student organizations go, the Tower Guard is unique in their ability to have such far-reaching impact...the dedication of so many hours marks them as a truly committed and service-oriented group that has the broader MSU community in mind," said Shani Feyen, the Chronic Health Disabilities specialist. "Rather than considering and fortifying just their own academic talent, each member's hours of service express a view that all MSU students are capable."
The Tower Guard has a left distinctive mark on the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities over its years of service. Their ongoing efforts to assist students and staff with visual and print-related disabilities have not gone unnoticed. The dedication that the Tower Guard members give is unlike the commitment required by other campus organizations, and without their help, the RCPD would not be the same department that it is today.