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2022-2023 LEADERSHIP TEAM
Garrison Smith
President
Garrison is a senior accounting student from North Carolina. In addition to being our president this year, he is involved in the Real Estate Club and intramural cornhole. After classes, you can find him hanging out with his friends, watching The Office, and cheering on the UNC-Chapel Hill Heels. Garrison loves accounting not only because it includes all the great things about math, but because it will help him reach his goal of buying a professional sports team and retiring by 50.
Emily Motz
Vice President
Emily, a junior from northern Michigan, is pursuing a BS in Accounting and a double minor in Christian Leadership and Global Studies. She spent her summer in Florida as a finance intern at OneHope missions and hopes to continue to pursue both ministry and accounting after graduation. She enjoys accounting because of the flexibility and security of the job. In her free time, Emily is a CGL, works at LUPD, and is on two intramural volleyball teams.
Matthew Sharp
Secretary/Treasurer
Matt is a senior pursuing a double major in Accounting and Business Administration with a minor in Sports Outreach. Along with being fluent in ASL, Matt has a passion for all types of sports including basketball, spike ball, and hiking. He has interned with RKL for the past two summers back home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and has recently accepted a job offer there as a Tax Associate for Fall of 2023!
Grace Phillips
Tutoring Coordinator
Hailing from Richmond Virginia, Grace is a double major in both Accounting and in Business Administration: Project Management. She is also a tutor at CASAS and interning with the Department of Justice. Grace spends her free time watching movies, playing volleyball, and reading, but she is most herself when on an adventure, especially when it includes skydiving. Grace attributes her love for accounting to the multitude of job opportunities offered, but she will admit that her ACCT 212 class and Dr. Koss’s excellent teaching brought her to truly enjoy this profession.
Dr. Jamie Stowe
Co-Faculty Advisor
Dr. Jamie Stowe began her career in public accounting, providing years of audit, tax, and consulting services to clients from a variety of backgrounds. Dr. Stowe joined the School of Business as an Assistant Professor Accounting in 2013 and enjoys working with undergraduate and graduate students. She is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and completed her Doctorate in 2016 with her dissertation entitled “A Quantitative Examination of the Relationship Between Age, Gender, and Burnout in Public Accounting Professionals in a United States National Firm.” Dr. Stowe has served as the Accounting Society's faculty advisor for 8 years.
Professor Mechelle LaFon
Co-Faculty Advisor
After graduating from James Madison University, Professor Lafon began her accounting career as an internal auditor with a financial institution. Upon passing the CPA exam, she worked in a regional public accounting firm based in Richmond, VA. From there, she began working for a publicly-traded, real estate investment trust (REIT) and moved up to the controller position where she was responsible for the corporate accounting and financial reporting departments. After working at the REIT, she began consulting for other publicly-traded companies including Capital One. After consulting, she began working as the Controller and eventually the Chief Financial Office at a smaller REIT.
She moved to Lynchburg, VA in February 2016 and began working at Liberty University as the Director of Budget and Finance in the Provost’s Office. Professor Lafon’s goal was to teach accounting. She has had a 25-year fulfilling career in the accounting field and hopes to transfer that knowledge and experience to students in order for their success both professionally and personally.
Professor Lafon is a licensed CPA in the state of Virginia.
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