1987 STUDENT COUNCIL alumni success Asquith, who came to OSU on a scholarship, earned a bachelor’s degree in economics with a minor in history. The Muskogee, Okla., native recalls getting involved with the council her freshman year. As leader of the student body her senior year, Asquith says she learned organizational skills and how to communicate with others. “I enjoyed working with the other leaders on the arts and sciences student council,” she says, noting she particularly enjoyed beating the business student council in College Bowl. After graduating from OSU in 1987, Asquith studied law at the College of William and Mary. Following her graduation in 1990, she went to work for the federal government as an attorney on Capitol Hill. Asquith spent seven years as counsel to the U.S. Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, advising lawmakers on issues such as food safety, teacher training and commodities. The committee deals with everything from farming to crop insurance to public school nutrition programs. Today, Asquith is the deputy corporate secretary for the Washington, D.C.-based Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the largest nongovernmental securities regulating agency in the country. There, working in corporate governance and policy-making, she reports to the company chief executive officer, Mary Shapiro, and deals with its 23-person board of governors. The habits she developed at OSU, including those honed in student council service, still help her today. “I developed a lot of my leadership skills during that time of my life,” she says. “Connecting with people, finding people who had the same academic interests, and bonding over things we had in common, I think that serves you well throughout life.” Marcia Asquith traces 20 years of a fast-paced career and lasting friendships back to her time as president of the College of Arts and Sciences Student Council. Building a Solid Foundation Asquith lives with her husband in Arlington, Va. Despite ending up so far away, the friendships she formed during her time on the student council still exist today. She says a few of her close OSU friends were among the guests at her wedding last summer in Virginia. “There are friends I have stayed in contact with over the years,” Asquith says. “I didn’t know I would at the time, but I did know they were people with similar interests who I enjoyed working with.” Matt Elliott OSU Special Collections Gary Lawson College of Arts and Sciences 6
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