As of Sept. 17, 2025, the class of 2029 elected six members of its class to represent them in the Campus Union. In their online Instagram announcement, Paxton Mergo, Shawn Michael Matthews, Will Hathcock, Wendy Stanton, Matius Williams, and Grant Deutch were named the “newest delegates joining the Union!”
The delegate candidates in the running for the Union shared their values and goals online through social media marketing. Many posts featured the candidates speaking about giving a voice to their Wofford community.
Each candidate was well-qualified for the position: Paxton Mergo, a Boys State alumni, Will Hathcock, a FBLA chapter President; and Wendy Stanton, who seeks to start a nonprofit to help children.
It would have been hard to come by a candidate who was not qualified; most of the class of 2029 had a long list of accomplishments from their time before Wofford. However, I think the political climate of our nation has hit too close to home, and the freshmen voter pool should have done better.
By no means am I criticizing the delegates elected to represent the freshmen class. I agree that giving others a voice is important and an essential part of a democratic process. Yet the results of the election leaves something to be desired.
Netflix released a limited series called Adolescence this past winter. Critics concluded that it was a show on the commentary of male youth in Gen Z and Gen Alpha. The show depicted how social media and society’s influence altered males of the newer generations’ views of the world.
Online there are higher and higher trends of normalized misogyny, and politically, the voters of America have been young men encouraged by influencers.
Connecting the delegate union election results to Adolescence is a huge stretch, especially considering the violent themes of the show.
However, what we are beginning to see is a pattern. I have great expectations for the newly elected delegate members, and I fully believe each one will serve Wofford in beneficial ways.
Yet, I question our freshmen class for not being more open and receptive to representatives who are different. Five out of the six delegate freshmen union members being men is not an issue, but I do think it reflects a political climate growing at Wofford, just as Adolescence noted a political climate growing in young men.
The freshmen union election was only one out of many elections to observe, but from now on, I urge voters to question why they elect candidates. I would have expected from this election to have seen a more vast distribution of votes, rather than a focus on options that voters were influenced to vote for.
The outcomes of this election does not change the world, but it is a reflection of how students view leadership and who we view to be change-makers.
