By: Brie White, Senior Writer
In recent weeks, a new Campus Union Cabinet was selected for the following academic year. The cabinet has already met to lead the Campus Union assembly and meets weekly independently to brainstorm, strategize and assess necessary action. Drake McCormick ’18 was elected President, William Randall ’19 was elected Vice President, Trey Williams ’19 was elected Treasurer and Bali Chana ’20 was elected secretary.
A congratulatory instagram post from the Wofford College Campus Union instagram, reads, “We trust you will lead the student body of Wofford College in honorable and progressive ways.”
McCormick says, “We have a great responsibility and opportunity to be the voice for students and to be more accessible. We have a great team on this cabinet and assembly.” Delegate and committee chair positions for Campus Union have also rolled over.
Randall reiterates this sentiment: “I came to Wofford wanting to be involved and I knew I wanted to be involved with student government. This is a way to make a tangible impact on our campus. I wanted to serve Wofford and give back in a way different than as a delegate and I feel that the vice president position sets a vision for the assembly as a whole.”
Vice President responsibilities include cultivating a better relationship between the cabinet and the assembly, as well as the Board of Trustees, working on ballots of each election cycle and coordinating both the elections and nominations committee and the executive committee. Randall says ultimately the vice president focuses on “communication and coordination.”
Williams sees the roll of treasurer as “a liaison between student activities and the way that those activities are funded.” The treasurer deals with the Financial Affairs committee, allocates funds for clubs and organizations of all sizes, and distributes allocations between spring and fall semesters.
Channa is optimistic about her time in office. “What made me want to run was that I felt I could do the job well” she says. “I’m very organized. I knew Brendan wasn’t going to re-run and the role was open.”
Secretarial roles include taking attendance minutes, being approachable for assembly questions, conducting votes on proposals and distributing revolution.
This cabinet sees areas that can improve. For McCormick, much of the issues lie in communication. Williams agrees. “I think students feel there’s a disconnect,” he says. “I’d like to see more students at the meetings weekly. Last fall a bunch of freshman came, which was exciting. I’d love to see a better connection with students.”
McCormick says the cabinet will be trying to combat apathy on campus. “I don’t think we need a culture change. I hope people will understand we’re their voice and we want to hear their concerns,” he says. “It takes much more than just four people, and the 42 members of the assembly. I desire more debate in our meetings. [The cabinet] wants to set a tone of positivity and debate in a civil manner.”
“I think respectful disagreement is a lost art,” Randall says, “We can talk about issues. We talk about things that are hard… It’s not so much controversy as it is difficult conversations. We’ve experienced way too much loss and way too much negativity. If conversations would alleviate that, we want to do that.”
Channa notes that last term, where she served as a freshman delegate, the assembly focused a great deal on Greek and social life. “I’d like to continue this but in a less pressing way… keep the conversation going, but also improve social life not just on the weekends. I’d like for students to utilize the new art building on campus even if they’re not an art student. I’d like students to make use of what Wofford has to offer.”
Randall offers a hope for the cabinet: “bringing people back to why we’re here in the first place. Having a hand in solution is one of the best ways to prepare us for the real world. As the cabinet, we are not the ones who bring proposals. We take it upon ourselves to build up delegates and encourage them to recognize what’s needed, but we need students to answer the question ‘how can we work together? How can we be stronger?’”
