Brian Caskey already has plenty to fill the “honors and activities” section of a resume. Now he can add “Iowa State University homecoming royalty 2019” to that list.
Caskey, an aerospace engineering senior, was crowned as the male half of “Cardinal Court Royalty” during homecoming festivities October 25. He shared the honor with Sonya Harwood, a senior majoring in anthropology and religious studies.
It was all part of a typically busy weekend for Caskey, especially this time of year. By the next morning he had removed the attire from the homecoming function and put on his all-white drum major uniform as one of the leaders of the Iowa State University Cyclone Football Varsity Marching Band, which performed at the Iowa State-Oklahoma State football game. He was already close at hand, with the band, when he made the familiar walk onto the field at Jack Trice Stadium for a Cardinal Court recognition during the game.
Caskey was named one of the highly competitive Cardinal Court Scholarship top ten finalists in early October. The early field of applicants was first cut to 25, and then to the final ten. Requirements include high academic achievement, leadership on campus, service to the community, commitment to Iowa State and responses to essay questions. Interviews are also held.
His life on the “engineering side” of campus has included working on the ISU Collegiate Wind Competition Team, which took first place in project development and fifth place overall in a competition at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory with a small-scale wind turbine (video here). Caskey is part of Iowa State’s contingent of students in the year-long Boeing AerosPACE program, a multi-university collaborative senior capstone project program. He’s a member of the Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society, the University Honors Program (see an Honors Program summary of his summer 2019 activities here) has served as a tutor and supplemental instruction leader and has been a part of the Engineering Global Friends organization.
Caskey is also a runner, and has competed in the Chicago Marathon twice (raising $1,500 for the American Red Cross the second year) and has qualified to participate in the Boston Marathon in April, 2020. It will then be a dash to the finish line in his undergraduate education, with graduation set for May, 2020.
“I’d like to say thank you to all of those who have helped shape my experiences at Iowa State,” says Caskey. “Professors, colleagues, mentors, friends, and family, who have helped me grow into who I am today. I could not be more grateful.”