Newcomer joins the presidential race

If you use YikYak, you will have seen lots of recurring themes in the past few weeks (can I call these Cokegate, Wristgate and VSGate)?

First we had the drug arrest scandal, which resulted in debate over the War on Drugs but mainly the attractiveness of the two students and how that has influenced people’s perspectives on them. Then, this past weekend we had the whole thing with AEPi refusing entry to some guys who did have wristbands. Finally, there was a debate about the upcoming Vanderbilt Student Government elections.

Two candidates will be on the online ballot on March 23rd-24th, Ariana Fowler and Jude Cohen. Both are juniors, members of sororities, and have held high leadership positions, as have their male running mates. With the executive board on probation this semester for misallocation of funds and claims that it’s become a largely irrelevant resume booster, many students remain critical of the organization.

2016 has been the year of outsider candidates, as we saw with the rise of Bernie Sanders and Donald Drumpf, and calls went out for a third outsider candidate who will speak their mind, offer new perspectives and make VSG less of a bureaucracy and a driving force for changes to campus life.

And the appropriately named Jack Newcomer answered.

Jack Newcomer is a pre-med freshman running as a write-in candidate. He enjoys playing basketball, his favorite rapper is Childish Gambino, and his biggest influence is his family. If Jack wins the election, he will be the first ever freshman to do so as campaigns are usually only ever run by upperclassmen.

His running mate is Dan Stefan, also a freshman. Jack told me having a freshman president will make VSG more accessible to the student body: “I am much less intimidating to younger students than a senior would be, and students will feel comfortable talking to me about issues they’re having about their personal Vanderbilt experience, or Vanderbilt as a whole”.

I was very pleased when I reached out to Jack and he immediately replied and was keen to answer all my questions.

I asked Jack what experience influenced him to run and would help him in the position. “I’ve worked various positions at different hospitals and I was always the youngest employee,” he said. “I got to interact with lots of different departments and patient interaction and I quickly realized how much I cared about people in general”.

When I asked about releasing his platform, Jack told me “I don’t want my campaign to be solely based on my ideas and mine only”, but he plans to work on one with his running mate and other students over the next few weeks on a formal platform.

I pressed him to name a few policies he will work with to implement:

• more programs to integrate transfer students and international students, who often have trouble adjusting to culture and life at Vanderbilt
• replacing the policy that freshmen are required to have three meals a day instead of nineteen a week, and having reimbursement for missed swipes
• making it easier for upperclassmen to live off campus and make their decisions about housing
• getting the administration less involved in Greek Life, and removing the fear that student organizations have about getting in trouble for parties
• increase internship support to connect Vanderbilt students with future employers
• making VSG an organization that’s a driving force for change on-campus and filled with dedicated advocates

You can read Jack’s official announcement that he’s running here. Campaigning begins Monday March 14th, when we return from spring break, and the elections take place the following week from Tuesday March 23rd – Wednesday March 24th. Jack thinks social media will play an important role in this election, and wants to capitalize on the recent burst of name recognition from YikYak to get his message out as a serious candidate with initiative and a vision.

Jack will also be holding several campaign events the big week before election, including campaigning in Commons and Rand to introduce himself to voters and hear their ideas, and plans to have a rally of his supporters in the Sarratt Center. Flyers and posters, like always, will be a big part of the race. The election will be an upward battle for Newcomer since voters will have to know his name and to write him in on the ballot, but he’s confident he can win them over his idea of completely reworking student government to make it more relevant.

Does the late-to-the-game Underdog have a chance? Will his proposals and attitude sway Vanderbilt voters who aren’t convinced he’s got the experience? Will freshmen show up in record numbers (to the AnchorLink website) to support one of their own? You know it’s going to be an interesting election when Gossip Squirrel releases a statement. Stay tuned.