2. Impacting Lives Through Words

Impacting Lives Through Words Veronika Kolosova '25 explored the liberal arts experience at W&L through campus involvement and an interdisciplinary approach to her studies.

By Kelsey Goodwin
September 20, 2024

"A liberal arts background prepares you to live, work and make educated decisions in a global, interconnected environment."

~ Veronika Kolosova '25

Veronika Kolosova '25, a business administration and strategic communication double major with a minor in digital culture and information, chose to attend Washington and Lee University as a prospective high school student in Russia because she wanted to study business in a liberal arts setting. Along the way, she has gained experience in marketing, artificial intelligence, stage management and a laundry list of other skills she never anticipated when she first arrived on W&L's campus.

The list of academic and extracurricular pursuits that Kolosova has accumulated on her resume during her time at W&L is a testament to her passion for the arts, community building and learning new skills. Kolosova said her experiences on campus and in the classroom at W&L have all contributed to preparing her for life after graduation.

"Nothing in this world exists in isolation," Kolosova said. "To build a successful strategy - be it in business or any other area - you need to consider a variety of factors outside of your specialization. A liberal arts background prepares you to live, work and make educated decisions in a global, interconnected environment."

Elisabeth Gilbert, assistant professor of business administration, said Kolosova's trajectory shows what is possible when students maximize W&L's myriad opportunities.

"When I think of the ideal W&L student, I think of someone who's gone all out in pursuing the range of opportunities this university has to offer, and Veronika is the perfect example," said Gilbert. "She's combined her communication and business skills to do social media strategy for wluLex, events and marketing for Lenfest, and a podcast for the Harte Center; she's helped orient new international students with the Center of International Education, been an editor for the Ring-Tum Phi, served on the board of Hull's Drive-In and even worked with professor de Lissovoy on his phenomenal Floating Topographies art project. Her enthusiasm, creativity, versatility and willingness to serve others are what stand out to me the most about Veronika. They're all interconnected."

Kolosova's passion for the arts has informed her work at the Lenfest Center for the Arts since her first year. Kolosova is now the lead director for the Lenfest Center's front-of-house student team. Her responsibilities include Lenfest work scheduling, front-of-house management over three theaters and coordinating and managing 15 student/staff house employees while moving 400-plus patrons through the Lenfest Center at any given performance. By graduation, she will have supervised over 600 events at W&L Lenfest Center. She is also the student publicity chair and events marketing coordinator for the Lenfest Center. She has been writing articles about performances and events for the Lenfest Center since her first year on campus, providing her with practical experience to complement her studies in strategic communication. Her event coordination experience has included planning and executing performance talkbacks, receptions, event branding and community outreach.

Susan Wager, assistant director of the Lenfest Center for the Arts, said that in addition to being "a master at TikTok and all things social media," Kolosova has approached every aspect of her role with an eye toward building valuable professional skills.

"Veronika has gained a solid work experience in marketing, public relations, event management for large groups of patrons and students and outreach and engagement," Wager said. "Her years of experience with the Lenfest Center has helped fashion her keen ability to multitask, meet quality specifications and maintain a professionalism that will serve her well in all future endeavors. Her resourcefulness and attention to all details has spun a unique management quality to her tenure. She has met and superseded all expectations in the numerous positions she has held at the Lenfest Center."

Kolosova is also co-chair of the Lenfest Center Student Selection Committee, her second year in the role. The position is responsible for leading the Student Lenfest Committee in selecting an artist to perform during Lenfest's upcoming performance season. The marketing campaign the committee creates to encourage students to vote on a short list of artists is presented to the W&L student body and voted on by students during Fall Term. Each year the number of student body votes has doubled, and Wager, who advises the group, is expecting a record number for the 2025-26 season.

Kolosova said the committee invited more students from the dance and film departments to join this year to expand conversations around what performances would appeal to the widest variety of W&L students.

"Seeing all those people collaborate and help select the performances for a broader, more diverse W&L community is important," Kolosova said.

Lenfest Selection Committee voting will open Nov. 1 and close prior to winter break in December. Kolosova said the committee has implemented a custom website for the voting process and will offer prize drawings to encourage more student participation. Last year, the committee implemented a new vote-on-the-go strategy, where committee members went to high-traffic areas on campus to get more diverse voter participation. Kolosova said the committee is also excited to engage students in Lenfest's upcoming performances in other ways, such as a dinner for students to meet the performers of Red Sky, who will be on campus Oct. 8.

Kolosova was able to further hone her marketing skill set this summer as a communications strategy intern for the chief information officer at Coca-Cola in Atlanta. Her key responsibilities included developing a communication strategy for the platform services division at Coca-Cola, testing cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) technologies the company is considering implementing and working with various departments, such as data science and marketing technology, on potential new technology initiatives. The internship was initially scheduled to end Aug. 2, but Coca-Cola extended it until December. Kolosova recently traveled to Atlanta to help organize and facilitate Coca-Cola's Global Technology Summit Sept. 17-18 as part of her internship responsibilities. Kolosova said many of the skills that have been relevant and valued in her internship with Coca-Cola were gained through her digital culture and information (DCI) minor courses.

"DCI really brings together the skills employers need, from programming and working with data to making those concepts accessible through communication," Kolosova said.

"Veronika exudes professionalism," said Kevin Finch, associate professor of journalism. "Working with her feels more like talking with a participant in a workplace setting than a college class. She comes to class prepared both to discuss the material we planned to cover and with questions for me as her professor."

Kolosova cited Finch's course in media ethics and her participation in the Media Ethics Institute, a weekend institute held twice a year that brings communications professionals to campus to engage with Washington and Lee journalism and mass communications majors about the ethical challenges of today's media workplace, as vital parts of her W&L experience.

"The in-depth discussions about ethical dilemmas helped me understand on a deeper level the crucial role of communication specialists as connectors between organizations and the public," Kolosova said. "The class overall reassured me that pursuing a strategic communication degree would enable me to advocate for transparency and ethical practices in any field and positively impact lives through words."

For all of Kolosova's varied interests, she said many of her most treasured memories from her time on campus will be from her work with the Center for International Education (CIE) as an international student orientation leader. She has been a three-time orientation staff leader and worked for CIE in the summers before her sophomore and junior years to help the department prepare for international student orientation.

"Just knowing that I played a role in making campus feel like home for so many people over the time that I've been here at W&L has been the highlight," she said.

Hunter Swanson, associate director of international education, praised Kolosova's commitment to welcoming new students to campus, noting that her assistance with creating a series of videos on topics of interest to international students was as helpful as her willingness to jump in and troubleshoot last-minute issues and questions students have upon their arrival.

"She has been instrumental in improving and facilitating the international student orientation program," Swanson said. "She has been referred to as the international 'mother.'"

Kolosova said she will look back as fondly on the community she has built with other students at W&L as she will on her relationships with faculty and administrators.

"The mentorship that happens between students at W&L is priceless," Kolosova said. "It's transformative for both sides. I had amazing upperclassmen friends in my first year who spent hours talking to me about their W&L experience. They shared tips and advice about academics, life, career - everything. Without them and their guidance, I wouldn't be who I am today. Understanding their impact on me, I wanted to do something similar as an upperclassman. This decision led me to the most amazing friendships, unexpected adventures and unforgettable W&L experiences."

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