Name: Madison Lanius
Major: Risk Management & Insurance
Year: Senior
A goal of many students in their undergraduate years is to leave behind a legacy once they graduate from their college or university, in hopes of assuring that they have adequately fulfilled their time spent there. When it comes to Madison Lanius, a senior preparing to bid her farewells and graduate from Florida State University, “leaving behind a legacy” serves as an understatement. On behalf of her extensive list of accomplishments, Lanius was selected among 15 to be featured in the FSU Alumni Hall of Fame. Come May, you can find her portrait hanging proudly on the third floor of the Oglesby Union, near the senate chambers.
The honor of recognition into the hall of fame is managed by the Garnet and Gold Key (GGK) Leadership Honorary at FSU. The society contains the brightest, most involved and highest-achieving students on campus, and it only awards spots in the hall of fame to those already in the organization. Lanius applied for a position in early March, underwent an interview process and found out early April that she had been chosen. “I think the fact that I was chosen for the hall of fame had a heavy emphasis on my involvement in homecoming.”
Lanius began working on homecoming committee her junior year as the assistant director of Pow Wow, in which she helped to bring acclaimed comedian Amy Shumer as the performance. She then proceeded to take the responsibility as the overall assistant director of homecoming the following year, which was more of a managerial position; rather than having a list of tasks to accomplish that were specific to her position, Lanius served as a supervisor, and she selected the individuals for the council, coordinated meetings, set deadlines for people and worked to keep a cohesive and collaborative environment. Her position entailed several tasks to oversee, and the priority was to ensure that the 13 events planned for the week of homecoming were facilitated to the best measure. “I feel like that [homecoming] was one of those things I did in which I remember putting my all into, and being really proud of it,” Lanius said.
She, along with the help of the team’s programming director and overall director, worked closely together to bring Chance the Rapper to campus as the performer for this past year’s War Chant. “I wanted to unite the campus by bringing an artist like Chance who stands so much for the Black Lives Matter movement, and War Chant was happening around a time where it was so prevalent,” Lanius said. “I remember the Black Student Union here tweeted “Thank You” to us when we released the act for War Chant and I just got so emotional. They have been so underappreciated; it was nice to be able to pick an artist that was popular but also that appealed to a group that has been historically underrepresented.”
Not only did Lanius play a huge role in homecoming during her time at Florida State, but she was also the vice president of finance for GGK last year. “Even though my position was just ‘finance,’ I would help out in a lot of areas that weren’t necessarily under my role. I don’t believe that leadership is positional; being an emerging leader and helping anywhere you can is what makes a leader – pick up wherever the team is lagging. You can always do more.”
GGK held a ceremony Tuesday, April 18, for those selected to be in the hall of fame. Each recipient had someone present the award to him or her, as well as give a minute-long speech about his or her legacy and involvement on campus. “I had my friend Leila Sabet from middle school present my award to me. She’s been such an important part of my time at Florida State, as well as of my time growing and developing since I was 14.” Lanius received a medal and an honor chord.
Her success is not done yet- in fact, it will just be getting started in the fall, as she is beginning her career in New York City working with Willis Towers Watson and its Global Graduate Development Program. Willis Towers Watson is a global risk management insurance brokerage and advisory company, and Lanius acquired the job through networking after an internship with the company last summer in London. The program includes three 8-month rotations, in which she will spend each span of time in a different sector of the business. “In between rotations, we stay in a “host city” for a week,” Lanius said. “I will have the opportunity to spend one of the rotations abroad, so I will most likely be living in Singapore or London.
“Looking back at USC in Columbia, the school that I transferred from during freshman year, I could’ve made the most there, but I knew that FSU was the place for me. I have never once regretted my decision to transfer here,” she said. “The people at this school – I want them to know to never limit themselves. I would never be the person that I am today without GGK, my sorority Delta Zeta, and Florida State. They are all little puzzle pieces to who I am as a person. Just make the most of everyday while you’re here. Every day here is a lesson.”