This upcoming 2018-2019 school year will witness a cabinet where the president, vice-presidents, secretary and treasurer all identify themselves as people of color on a predominately white campus. The Campus Union Executive Office election last month brought about a change on this campus.
“Historically, this has never been seen before. It’s something new,” says newly appointed president Fredy Madrid ’20. “Culturally, it shows that the student body is making progress by voting for leaders who they believe represent them well. They recognize that people who don’t look like the majority on campus are capable of doing an exemplary job.”
Madrid also states that, aside from the cabinet consisting of all student of color, a few other “firsts” have happened as well. Madrid is the first international student, first Hispanic and first non-U.S. citizen to be elected as president on Wofford’s campus as well.
In a variety of ways, Wofford College has witnessed efforts from the campus community to exert the importance of racial difference and inclusion on this campus. The demographic make up of this new executive cabinet is one of those ways.
The other members of the cabinet have expressed their reasoning for running, as well as their opinions on this historical moment as well.
Bali Channa ’20, ran for co-vice president with Zainab Bhagat ’20 because she still wanted to be involved with the school while she was abroad and she wants to help the student organizations connect with each other and communicate so that students can have big turn outs at their events.
“I am so excited that the cabinet consists of all students of color and it is a milestone that Wofford should celebrate,” Channa says. “I hope that having this cabinet will allow conversations to flow more freely and honestly.”
Bhagat says she wanted to be a voice for her fellow students as co-vice president. She is excited for this role because she thinks it will be a time of growth and learning, and her biggest hope is that she is an effective leader while filling the shoes of the great leaders who have come before her.
“I don’t think that this should be seen as an outlier, but rather a new normal where students are elected based on experience, intellect, drive and passion. I think that this election goes to show that we are college students first, and that the color of our skin, though mentioned here, does not, and should not matter when identifying real leaders,” Bhagat says. “I think that this election has shown that, as a college, people are less concerned about background, race or color but more concerned with voting for leaders who they believe deserve to be in office. I think this is historic because it shows that our campus is one that is thinking towards the future, and I am honored to help pave the way!”
Jurnee Jones ’21 ran for secretary to have the opportunity to serve the student body and the Campus Union Assembly in a deeper capacity. As a freshman delegate, she saw so much being done to support and grow the Wofford community and knew she could do more.
“The cabinet consisting of students of color represents the students of Wofford increasingly breaking down barriers and recognizing that we are Terriers, which in some way, unites us regardless of race,” Jones says. “It is a testament to the efforts of the campus, as a whole”
Trey Williams ’19 ran for re-election for the treasurer position. When making the decision to run for this position, he knew that changing the way student leaders view the Campus Union funding process would be paramount. He ran again because he wanted to streamline the funding through further education on Campus Union’s funding policies.
“To have a leadership team built from students that all made that same realization at one point or another [that not many people here look like them] is something that is completely new to me,” Williams says. “I think that fact alone will allow us all to bring a perspective to campus that can potentially be transformative not only for Campus Union, but for other students of color as well. “
This new cabinet has a lot in store such as reconstructing the student body, improving the physical state of campus (such as an endowment for summer academic projects) and putting key individuals in places where students’ voices haven’t been heard, such as the Cultural Affairs Committee. As of April 16, two students were appointed to this faculty and staff-led committee as student representatives.
In addition to those goals and projects, the cabinet looks forward to having more “Wofford Unfiltered” events focusing on social and environmental issues, as well as intellectual conversations.
“These ideas are just the tip of the iceberg,” Madrid says.
Madrid believes that Wofford is moving forward and that this current and upcoming school year will have extraordinary things in store. Feel free to contact Madrid by cell: 803-317-0264 or email: [email protected] . He is open to grabbing lunch or simply chatting.
Congratulations to the newly elected cabinet and to Wofford on experiencing a new milestone.
