On Sept. 21, Campus Union announced the names of students who were elected to represent the Class of 2027.
This year’s batch of first-year delegates consists of former student body presidents, club leaders and overall active members of their former high schools with clear ambitions to carry on their involvements at Wofford.
The delegates elected are Drew Billig ‘27, Ollie Fengenbush ‘27, Wilson Frerichs ‘27, Gave Gettys ‘27, Matt Myers ‘27 and Kerrington Pinkney ‘27.
“(Campus Union) seemed like a good avenue to get involved,” Fegenbush said. “I did a lot of student government stuff in high school. I think Wofford has a pretty solid student government system.”
Pinckney also hails from an impressive background in student government, serving as the president of the South Carolina Association of Student Council last year.
“I’ve been in student government since the fifth grade,” Pinckney said.
Unlike some of the other delegates elected, Geddys was not very involved in his high school’s student government, but became interested in Wofford’s Campus Union after hearing about it from his brother.
On Sept. 25, Campus Union held the first meeting of the year to include these new delegates, allowing for their introduction and assimilation into the typical processes of the weekly meetings.
“It is different from high school (student government),” Billig said. “It feels a lot more like government than high school did.”
Others, like Meyers, fell easily into the swing of things, as he admitted that he has already drafted three bills.
For many of the new delegates, these first few meetings were also their first introduction to the older and more experienced members of Campus Union.
“(The older delegates) have actually been very welcoming,” Frerichs said. “They’re helping us know what to do, what to say, how to do it. It’s been a very warm, welcoming environment.”
“I’m so glad that we have such a strong leadership base with Graydon Davies (‘24) as president, Emma Skelton (‘24) as vice president,” Meyers said.
It appears that the dynamic between the freshman delegates and the upperclassmen is present and continuing to strengthen, but the relationship between the Class of 2027 representatives is just as integral to the success and progress of Campus Union.
“I don’t think there’s a single one of the five other (first-year delegates) who I wouldn’t gladly work alongside,” Fegenbush said. “I think there’s a lot of things they want to accomplish that I also want to accomplish.”
“My class and the older grades, that’s definitely what got me interested in Campus Union in the first place,” said Pinckney, specifically mentioning Arnise Wright ‘24, Taylor Fuller ‘24, Ashley Manigault ‘24 and Sunni Owens ‘26 as inspiring assembly members in terms of “getting a perspective from the Black person point of view of Campus Union.”
This early cohesion is a commendable and encouraging feat for the freshmen on Campus Union, but it also brings into question the demographic of the six representatives.
Pinckney was the only female and the only person of color elected on the assembly.
Considering the number of female candidates running for Campus Union this year, Pinckney said she found the results to be “discouraging and shocking.”
“I’ve got to try extra hard to make my voice heard,” Pickney said. “It hasn’t proven to be challenging just yet, but definitely down the road there will probably be a little rocking the boat.”
Pinckney’s fellow delegates also indicated a certain uncertain yet eager energy for their upcoming terms.
“I just want to get in there and feel it out,” Billig said. “We’re definitely new at it, and we don’t know a ton of people so far.”
“I’m now getting my feet wet and I’m still figuring out what this whole Campus Union thing is,” Frerichs said.
