William Phillips, a.k.a. Willi P, is a junior from just north of Richmond, Virginia, pursuing his major in marketing. He is the president of the Roanotes, a fully student-led acapella group, and is a member of the concert and chamber choirs. To see when the Roanotes’ final concert of the year will be, check their Instagram at the_roanotes. “We’re doing either 10 or 11 songs for the final concert. So it’s gonna be pretty big, [including songs] from Love Shack to Creep by Radiohead. That Creep performance is gonna be really good. Our soloist, Chase, is really talented. But yeah, we’re looking to do a few small things here and there before the semester ends. We just have to finalize a few plans.”
On top of exercising his vocal cords, William competes as a powerlifter at the collegiate level. He made collegiate nationals in 2024 and channels his lifting prowess through his online coaching of other powerlifters, like the record-setting fellow senior Liz Cullen. “I was interested in it [powerlifting] a little bit in high school, because I started lifting my senior year, and I was immediately doing the powerlifting-esque training, though I wasn’t a power lifter yet.” William said, “When I came to Roanoke College my freshman year, I remember it was right when I started with my own coach. I remember being in the Cregger Center, taking up one of the two squat racks for like an hour to do my four sets. Then, I found a community in other power lifters who go here, my OG gang, Evan Ross and Liz Cullens. At one point, Evan and I, in my freshman year, drove to Ohio because he was competing in a meet, which was pretty cool. As my sophomore year completed, I competed at collegiate nationals, which is a really cool event. I took the year off my junior year, as it had just gotten to be a little bit too expensive for me to travel. But this year, I’ll be coaching at Nationals, where I have a few athletes competing that I work with, and then I’ll be competing at an open national event in June. You know, it’s a fun dichotomy to have, where I balance the power lifting and acapella presidency. But hey, if you’re interested in power lifting and want advice, hit me up at williplifts on Instagram. I’ve been doing this for a while. I coach men and women of all different ages and weight classes, so I’ve got a wide range in who I’ve worked with.”
When William thought of his third favorite scent, he was transported. “When I walk into my grandma’s house, it reminds me of home. There’s a very distinct smell, and it always reminds me of my childhood and my upbringing. My grandma grew up here, and she lives here in Roanoke, which is kind of how I found out about the school.”
Talking about how his marketing major has assisted in his non-academic work, he said, “I think it has really helped me with my leadership abilities in the Roanotes, and just creating and fostering an environment that people want to be passionate about. For coaching, you know, I have the hard skills of coaching down because I’ve gotten so much experience, but Roanoke College has really helped me with both my soft skills and my business-oriented skills. I am a small business owner, and all the classes that I’ve taken throughout my marketing major have really helped, especially when it comes to accounting.”
Lunging back to his work with the Roanotes, William said, “I would say that my favorite [song genre] is when the bass section of the choir has words. It’s when I can say stuff, whatever genre that may be, when I’m not going dum, dum, dum, dum, dum for five minutes. I guess folk would be the genre that allows me to avoid that. But I’d say sometimes my least favorite are pop songs, just because they get me to try to be this bass that goes on for four minutes. Typically, though, I don’t care about the genre. I care that I’m doing something interesting, fun, and new.”
“So after graduation, I plan to go on a full blitz, going full-time with my online coaching. I’m doing pretty well right now, and I’m going to have to use the tools I’ve learned here at Roanoke to get enough clients where I can be full-time. I’ll probably move back to Richmond to get an apartment with my girlfriend. There’s a chance that she ends up going into post-grads, and I’ll follow her wherever. Thankfully, with my online job, I can move around wherever.”
“First, I’d like to thank my Choir Director, Dr. Pekel; he’s been really kind to me and a good person to go to for advice about Roanotes. I’d like to thank a lot of my friends, people like my best friend, Abel Gamelin. If you surround yourself with intelligent and mature people, you tend to learn a lot and become a better person because of it. Shout out to my wolf pack. Shout out to my Roanotes. I’m thankful for everything they’ve taught me about being a leader and being a friend. Before Roanoke, I didn’t have friendships like this, and so I hope that I’ve made a mark on them the same way they’ve made a mark on me.”
Juniper Rogers
Folk of ‘Noke Editor
