The rising juniors elected Kam Bailey president and Campbell Cornett vice president during this week’s StuCo elections, and the rising sophomores elected Kodi Cade president and Archie Carruthers vice president.

The students were elected following preliminary elections and speeches in the Field House; students voted by Google Form.

“I would say that speeches are a huge piece of the puzzle, maybe bigger than most candidates would think about,” said StuCo moderator Bradley Mueller. “The energy behind a speech really gets a class going, and since the polls open up right after the speeches, a lot of the energy translates into a vote.”

The rising sophomore election was very intense, with every single speech seeming to outdo the previous one. The rising sophomores were guaranteed a great candidate whomever they voted for. In the end they voted Cade, who had never been in StuCo before, and Carruthers, who was freshman class vice president.

“It felt like an honor,” said Cade, who received the most votes out of anyone running for the position, and he was running for the first time. 

“Getting elected to StuCo meant that I have some big shoes to fill due to all the votes I got,” said Cade, who delivered a speech that was more off-the-cuff than the others. 

“If they wanted to pick me they’re gonna pick me for me, not for a speech that I wrote,” said Cade.

Carruthers, elected the rising sophomore vice president, has spent his time in StuCo this year focusing on Spirit Week and making sure that went off without a hitch. 

For the rising juniors, the class of 2023, a heated race was heavily influenced by invigorating speeches. The winner, Kam Bailey, promised to listen to his classmates’ ideas and to bring exciting new lunches, like Raising Canes and Imo’s, to the cafeteria. 

“I think, for one, it came down to the speeches,” said Bailey. “I did have the disadvantage of not being in school to be able to practice because I was sick. I think the biggest thing was I took time that I was sick and utilized it on my speech.”

Bailey believes what set his speech apart was that his fellow candidates went for humor while he tried mainly to get his points across.

“I voted for Kam because I really appreciated his speech and how he related to us in the fact that this past year has been a struggle for most of SLUH, but especially our sophomore class,” said sophomore Amon Binder. “I also liked that he vowed to make our voice as a class heard by StuCo and would be taking suggestions from us, the people, and would get our ideas into StuCo.”

Junior vice president-elect Campbell Cornett, called for more student representation in StuCo and promised, similarly, to hear what his classmates had to say. 

“Whenever I belong to an institution where there are figures of authority, I think that there needs to be a voice to be able to say what the people really want because people's voices aren't always heard,” said Cornett. “Sometimes, you know, you have to bug figures of authority to get what you want. So I just want to be a voice for the people.”

Cornett’s campaign drew a lot of support among his peers because he promised to always listen to them and amplify their ideas in StuCo.

“I voted for Campbell because he’s a man of the people,” said sophomore Alex Deiters. “I thought it would be funny if he got elected.”

Bailey and Cornett are succeeding sophomore Patrick Mehan, who was president of the class of 2023 for two years in a row. Bailey was also the class of 2023 vice president this year.

“When Kam won, I was super excited for him, just because he was vice president before and seeing him get president was super cool,” said Mehan. 

While losing the election brought some disappointment, Mehan’s StuCo career is far from over. He is considering an auxiliary position for next year and plans to run again for the 2022-23 school year. 

Another overarching factor in these elections was the pandemic and how next year will be drastically different from this year. Many students and faculty alike feel that school spirit will finally be able to return in the 2021-22 school year. This contributed to how candidates framed themselves, how students voted, and how the winners of the elections will be challenged next year.

“ I think next year is going to be kind of like the rebirth of StuCo, not in a bad or good way, just everything is going to be different and new,” said Mueller. 

With Covid restrictions likely to loosen next school year, SLUH will have more room to express school spirit. 

“The spirit of the school will really be redefined next year, I think, by the student council, and lots of clubs and organizations that will then be able to meet and have speakers and guests,” said Mueller. “So, I think from StuCo’s standpoint it's going to be a redefining of what leadership means and it's a cool opportunity for the group that got elected.”

“I hope that we will have more freedom (next year), kind of like what StuCo had freshman year,” said Bailey. “Hopefully we can do more events and have fun. If we’re not necessarily limited to what Covid says, maybe we’ll have the freedom to host more school-wide events.”

In addition to the elected positions that have already been decided, auxiliary positions are available to any students who want to participate. A comprehensive list of these positions was sent to the classes of 2022 and 2023, but a few noteworthy positions have been added this year. 

The new International Student Representative will help build a bridge between StuCo and the Global Education program and be a voice for international students at SLUH. 

Members of the class of 2024 will also have the opportunity to be Spirit Leaders next year, along with seniors. This decision was made to help a class that hasn’t seen school spirit outside of the pandemic get more involved in this area. 

The application for these auxiliary positions is due on Friday, April 30 at 3:15 p.m. The students who applied will then be chosen to join StuCo by a faculty committee.