When Kaylen Griles and Kylie Edington started their master’s degree program in the Department of History last fall, neither had any idea they would be co-presidents of the History Graduate Student Association (HGSA) just a year later and the opportunities it would present. 

Kaylen Griles’s involvement with the HGSA began with the desire to stay connected and active in her academic community. Having enjoyed being involved in extracurricular activities during her undergraduate years, she knew that HGSA would be a great opportunity to continue that tradition in graduate school.

In her first year of the master’s program, Kaylen assisted the HGSA president and vice president with logistics and university relations. She quickly learned about the Bertoti Conference, an annual event for HGSA, and familiarized herself with the conference’s goals and history. “It was a great way to ease into the organization,” she reflects.

For Kylie Edington, joining HGSA was about building connections and fostering relationships with other first-year students, as well as the second-year students. “I saw it as a great way to meet people in the department and get to know the cohort above me,” she says. Kylie initially joined the publicity committee, but as the year went on, she became more involved in helping with the Bertoti Conference.

A joint journey

When asked how the two came to be co-presidents of HGSA this year, Kaylen lets out a laugh. “It’s kind of funny! There were 6 of us, and we all wanted to participate in some capacity. I had expressed that I would be president if nobody else wanted to, so the general consensus was ‘Well Kay, you’re doing it!’”  However, there were only 4 open positions for the 6 students. Since the role of president is a lot of work and has many moving parts, the group decided the role should be filled by 2 people to help lighten the workload.

Kylie didn’t have a specific position in mind; she just wanted to help wherever it was needed most. So, the group elected her as co-president with Kaylen. “I’m very happy with my placement and it makes the most sense to have two people in this role. I enjoy working with Kaylen – we support each other and can divide up tasks and hold each other accountable.” Both expressed that taking on the role alone would have been a little daunting, so they were pleased at the unexpected turn of events.  

The dynamic between the two co-presidents has been central to the success of HGSA this year. For Kaylen, the experience has been one of constant learning. “It’s not just about working with Kylie, but us learning to work together with everyone else,” she says. Neither of them knew any of the first-year students, and that made communication challenging at first. When reflecting on their own experiences as first-year students within HGSA, Kylie and Kaylen didn’t feel they had been given the same opportunities within the organization as second-year students had, and the goal to ensure that all students could participate equally in HGSA became a priority for the pair.

They’ve emphasized teamwork, communication, forming bonds with one another, and involving all students in decision-making to ensure everyone is on the same page and that all voices are heard. This has been a huge key to their success, and the other members of HGSA have been receptive to the positive changes. “We support each other’s ideas and also hold each other accountable when ideas are overambitious. It’s been a challenge, but it’s really paid off in everything we do,” explains Kaylen.

Restructuring Bertoti 

The History Graduate Student Association is a student-led group and, while it plays a huge role in fostering positive relationships between students of different cohorts, the group’s main goal each year is  to organize and execute an annual conference. 

The Brian Bertoti History Conference is named after a former student who sparked interest among his peers to create a venue for public presentation of student research. Sadly, Brian passed away before planning for the first conference was completed. The conference name acknowledges his interest in studying the past and his commitment to sharing that study with others and has been held since 1998. 

Originally a two-day event for graduate students to present their research, the conference had seen declining attendance in recent years. Kaylen and Kylie realized it was time to rethink the format of the conference and have restructured it into a one-day symposium for the upcoming March 22, 2025 event. “The conference originally came about when there were not a lot of graduate conferences happening. So over time, as things have changed, attendance went down and we realized it was time to reorient it to serve what today’s graduate students need,” explained Kaylen. “We wanted to keep the same spirit for what the event meant to Brian Bertoti and his family while also making changes to meet the needs of today’s graduate students,” she adds. 

The goal in shifting the event from a conference to a symposium was to create a more relaxed yet still professional environment to allow graduate students to present their research, prepare for their defenses, and receive feedback. Kaylen and Kylie felt this format of allowing graduate students to practice in a calmer environment would help alleviate the pressure that comes with presenting at a full conference. 

They also aimed to broaden the scope of the conference. Kylie shared, “We wanted to open it up to more diverse projects. In the past, it was just papers primarily, but we are also accepting digital and public history based projects this year. We wanted a space to showcase those types of histories as well, to emphasize the multiple ways you can do history and that all of them deserve equal academic feedback.”

This year’s symposium will group submissions together based on four central themes. All presentations will take place in the same room so students can learn more about topics relating to their own research, as well as areas they don’t study and may not ordinarily have the opportunity to delve into. Faculty who specialize in each of the central themes will be present in order to provide speakers with constructive feedback. 

The two co-presidents emphasized what a team effort it was to make all these changes and plan the event. “We really put our heads together. It’s taken all of us to come up with it and get the event to where it is now,” says Kaylen. 

A rewarding experience

Planning the symposium has been both challenging and rewarding for the co-presidents. They had to figure out solutions regarding budgets, funding, and catering and also had to navigate other unexpected questions they hadn’t anticipated. They were able to put their own stamp on these things, too. “We have the ability to renegotiate how these things look. We’re using what’s happened in the past to help us carve out our own way,” says Kylie. 

Perhaps one of the most rewarding aspects of the leadership role for Kylie has been the chance to select the symposium’s keynote speaker, Lucas Hilderbrand. Kylie explained that while she is very passionate about Hilderbrand’s participation because his work with queer studies is related to her own research, everyone in HGSA was supportive of her choice. “It’s more of a niche topic that, at the average conference, I don’t know that someone would be asked to speak on, so it’s very cool to get to expose a bunch of students and professors to this. Getting to spearhead this was important to me and a very cool moment,” shares Kylie. 

Kaylen and Kylie agree that another rewarding experience has been seeing all the varying ways in which their teammates contribute. For example, they mention that one classmate is great at graphic design while another has a knack for budgets. “It’s really cool to see everyone’s talents outside of academia and the classroom,” adds Kylie. 

For Kaylen, it’s been really fulfilling to see her friends and colleagues come together to make the event a success. “I really like that we’ve all taken something we weren’t very familiar with and worked together to make it something new and exciting,” she says. Kylie emphasizes that while putting on this yearly event is the HGSA’s main goal, the camaraderie among the group is what’s most important. “You can put on a million good conferences, but the friendships are what we’ll remember long afterwards.”

Looking to the future

Kaylen and Kylie are planning to graduate in spring 2025. As their time in the program and as co-presidents draws to a close, both have begun to look ahead to their futures. Kaylen, eager to dive into primary research for her thesis next semester, plans to take a few years after graduation to gain experience in the federal government or legal agencies before eventually pursuing a law degree. Kylie hopes to work in a museum as a collections manager or education director and eventually plans on getting a master’s degree in library sciences or a Ph.D. in public history.  

When Kaylen first arrived at Virginia Tech in the fall of 2023, she wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. “I came in feeling underprepared and like I didn’t belong here,” she reflects. Now, after all she’s experienced during her time in the master’s program, she feels differently. “I’ve grown a lot more comfortable with myself and my capacity to do things that I never would have done before through this process.” Kylie echoes the sentiment. “Putting yourself out there and trying these hard things ends up paying off, and you’re a lot more capable than you think you are when you first enter grad school. You’ll come out impressed with yourself in the end – trust the process.”

Written by Cammie Sgarrella