Established by the Friends and Family of Tyler Stone '97
About The WFU Student Government Memorial Fund
Our Purpose
The Student Government Memorial Fund, established by family and friends of Tyler Stone ('97), is a heartfelt initiative designed to support and honor Student Government Officer volunteers. This fund aims to recognize and empower these outstanding individuals who dedicate themselves to serving their peers and enhancing the Wake Forest experience.
Through the Student Government Memorial Fund, each student enrolled at Wake Forest University who is serving as an officer on the Student Government Executive Board, including the President, Speaker of the House, Treasurer, Secretary and Chief of Staff will receive a modest award in honor of their service in office. While the award is modest, it aims to help alleviate some of the financial burdens they face, allowing them to devote more time and energy to their roles as advocates for positive change within our community.
Our Inspiration
Randolph Tyler Stone, known to all by his middle name, Tyler, served as Speaker of the House of the Wake Forest Student Government Association during the 1995-96 academic year. He was imbued with a special gift to engage and lift up those around him and his legacy is his commitment to family, friends and service to his community and country.
His role as Speaker of the House at Wake Forest was a source of great personal pride and joy. Tyler's fellow officers and classmates fondly recall that he was a perpetual optimist and advocate for the importance of Student Government and its ability to advance student concerns, better connect students to administrators and improve the overall quality of student life. Perhaps his most tangible achievement in role was as a principal architect of the strategic plan that led to development of Shorty's campus pub in 1996, which students, faculty and alumni continue to share and enjoy today.
Our Approach
The Student Government Memorial Fund was developed in partnership with Wake Forest University Development office and the Vice President for Campus Life, Dr. Shea Kidd Brown. It is an endowed fund that will provide an award annually, and in perpetuity, to each student enrolled at Wake Forest who is serving as a Student Government Executive Officer. These positions include President, Speaker of the House, Treasurer, Secretary and Chief of Staff.
We invite contributions from friends, family, alumni, former student government officers and all those who believe in the power of student leadership and its potential to shape the future. Together, we can honor Tyler's memory, and the contributions of other former Student Executive Government officers, by supporting these exceptional individuals and their steadfast commitment to service and to strengthening the bonds of their community.
Donate To Support The Fund
Please click on the link below to proceed with your donation through the secure site giving.wfu.edu.
About Tyler
Randolph Tyler Stone, known to all by his middle name, Tyler, was born on August 13, 1975, the younger son of Catherine and William Stone of Martinsville, Virginia. He was educated in the public schools of that city and demonstrated an early interest in student government, serving in his senior year as president of the student body of Martinsville High School. In that same year he was voted by his classmates as being both the “best (male) leader” and also “most likely (male class member) to succeed.” Although he had no previous family or other personal connections with Wake Forest, he chose it for himself and never looked back.
Tyler loved Wake, the stimulation and excitement it provided, and the many close friends he made there and kept all his life. In his first year he proved himself an effective good will ambassador for his university by coordinating a visit on one Fall Saturday by his home church’s youth group to Wake for a tour of the campus, that he personally led, and the experience of attending a home football game. One of the members of that youth group, John Pinkard, later became a proud Deac himself, Class of 2001, and represented his freshmen year dorm in the SGA following Tyler's example. He was followed by his younger sister, Jenny, Class of 2004. After Tyler's death John sent a note to the Stones saying how greatly he had admired Tyler and wished to emulate his example.
In his sophomore year at Wake Tyler successfully ran for the office of Speaker of the House of the University’s student government offering the theme “What Is Yet To Be?” and served in that office during his junior year. He was motivated by a strong desire not just to be elected to the office, but to make a real positive difference for his fellow students. This was a role tailor made for Tyler, who excelled in working with others and bringing them together to accomplish a common goal. He was part of a leadership team that included, Evan Peverley ('96) as President, Tina Schippers ('97) as Secretary, and Graham Goodrich as Treasurer ('96). The capstone accomplishment of their tenure in office was the development, petition and Administration approval of Shorty's campus pub. Many people were involved in the Shorty's project, but Graham Goodrich felt that Tyler played a special role:
"Many hands, and multiple Administrations touched the Shorty's initiative, but Tyler was the heart and soul of the project. He was instrumental in the development of the plan, saw the power of connecting our new pub to the history and legacy of the original Shorty's that opened in 1916 and served students when the campus was located in the town of Wake Forest, NC. There were moments when the project seemed destined to die on the vine, but Tyler persisted, and rallied us all to do the same. He was relentless and indefatigable for this and other initiatives he knew would make a difference for students. The result was a wonderful venue where students, faculty, administrators and alumni could gather, connect and manifest the spirit of Wake Forest community.
Tina Schippers ('97) also recalls that Tyler’s contribution to the team and project was unique:
"Tyler's commitment to Shorty’s, and everything Wake Forest, was limitless. His kindness, compassion and humor kept the project going, even when the hurdles kept increasing. He listened to fellow students, met with university administration and blended the often competing goals with grace and gusto. I will always be grateful for his valuable advice and endless patience - he truly made me a better me. I will never forget the days we spent getting Shorty’s ready for Opening Day…the countless piles of photos and mementos we sifted through, and all the laughs we had selecting what to display. Tyler’s heart (and that sparkle in his eye) radiated through everything he touched."
After graduating from Wake in the Class of 1997 Tyler worked for a year or so in the office of his area’s Member of the House of Representatives in Washington before enrolling in the Law School of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA. He found law school to be quite challenging but he persevered and earned a Juris Doctorate degree and passed bar exams in Virginia and Tennessee. Probably inspired in part by the examples of his paternal grandparents who had both volunteered and served in the Navy during World War II and an uncle who had graduated from Annapolis and served twenty years in the Navy, he sought and obtained a commission in the Navy Judge Advocate General Corps. He served as a JAG legal officer for about seven years in Charleston, SC, Baghdad, Iraq during the Iraq War, Bahrain and Coronado (San Diego), CA. All during this time he maintained an avid interest in Wake Forest athletics, even arranging a trip back to the States during his Bahrain posting to attend a bowl game in which his Demon Deacons were playing.
Tyler subsequently resigned his Navy commission to pursue some entrepreneurial ideas he had about attempting to bring textile manufacturing back to this country. His home region had been hit hard by NAFTA and other economic globalization trends and he was very interested in trying to utilize advanced technology to make textile manufacturing again feasible in the United States. These efforts in some respects mirrored his mindset as Speaker of the House to achieve a real and meaningful difference for his university and later for his country.
In the end, despite his hard work and enthusiasm, Tyler was not able to reach the peak of that very high mountain. After a several year period of declining health, vitality and spirit, he died on September 21, 2022, a few weeks after his 47th birthday and several months after the 25th anniversary of his Wake Forest graduation. His parents in retrospect believe that his Deacon years may well have been the happiest and most satisfying ones of his life. After consultation with the University and Graham Goodrich, one of Tyler’s fellow student government officers who became a lifelong close friend, they have made the lead gift needed to establish the Student Government Memorial Fund, in the hope that good things for Wake Forest and its students will flow from it, and invite others who may feel so inclined to join them.
They recognize that in tangible terms their son was not able to reach all of the goals that he set for himself, but they have no doubt that the people who knew Tyler at all well will never forget him. They know that he would not have wanted a memorial to himself, but believe that Tyler would be pleased by the thought that the creation of this Fund, inspired by his example of service, will continue to contribute to the quality of Wake Forest student life for generations of students to come.