Students get Cart Jacked with Hawkins for the first week of class

Starting on the first week of class, Chancellor Hawkins took to the campus grounds in speedy style to fetch students on their way to class.  

Troy University graphic

For the new Trojan social media series, “Get Cart Jacked – Hop in with Hawkins,” 

Chancellor Dr. Jack Hawkins Jr. went out onto the Troy campus grounds in a golf cart to ask students if they want to catch a ride to their classes. The chancellor then asks the students in a recorded interview about themselves, why they chose Troy, and more. 

“The most important thing we do is serve students, but it’s often that we talk about it in general terms – the 14,000 students that we serve – but I was reminded riding on that golf cart of the powerful individual stories [of the students,]” Hawkins said. “I enjoyed meeting the students, but it brought me back to the reality that is we’ve got to deal with our students not by number, but by name. 

“I enjoyed [Get Cart Jacked] so much and benefitted from it so much, and I met students, several of whom I won’t forget in terms of their stories. I hope the students enjoyed it just as much as I did.” 

The social media campaign comes from a place of wanting to help students out, make it easier for them to meet their chancellor and have a little fun along the way.  

“Depending on your academic journey, you might not run into an opportunity to meet [Hawkins,]” said Administrative Assistant Rachel Arnold. “Having an opportunity for you to just randomly run into the chancellor on your way to class is just a fun thing you can put on your college experience.” 

According to Senior Director of Communications Matt Clower, one of the things that makes Troy special is its real sense of community and support.  

“Much of that [community and support] comes from Dr. Hawkins himself,” Clower said. “We want to highlight the warmth and community that make Troy such a great place to spend your college years.” 

Arnold hopes Get Cart Jacked will be a year-long series, filming once a month each month. The series is done filming for August, but Arnold hopes that filming will resume for a couple more days in September. 

“[Hawkins] has had a really good time, so he might decide that he wants to film some more, and we might do different spin offs of this where he’s interacting with the students more,” Arnold said. “We just haven’t workshopped all the details out yet, so keep an eye out for other stuff coming.” 

In the meantime, students should keep their eyes peeled for a golf cart with the sign reading “Get Cart Jacked – Hop in with Hawkins.” Maybe students can get a chance to meet the chancellor and get a free ride to class.