Diversity grows in social club presidential elections

Social clubs elected new officer teams for the next academic year, and two of the largest women’s social clubs elected their first black presidents.

Ko Jo Kai elected Sarah Brooks, junior kinesiology major from Lubbock, and GATA elected Alex Hill, junior English-teaching major from Fort Worth. Both women were involved in campus leadership before being elected –Brooks served as a gameday student director and a Wildcat Week student director, and Hill served as a Sing Song Co-Chair for 2018.

“I pledged Kojies because I saw the diversity of the girls in club,” Brooks said. “It’s a reminder that the Lord can use anyone. It doesn’t matter your background. The whole officer team this year is so diverse, and it’s given me the opportunity to see the beauty of the Lord’s kingdom. No matter our skin color, the Lord can use anyone.”

After Brooks was elected, several black alumni from the club expressed excitement on social media. Taylor Crumpton, a 2017 graduate, said she had seen women of color occupy some officer positions before, but not the top three positions –president, vice president and pledge mom. Erika Wong serves as the new vice president of the club, and Kendall Castillo serves as the new pledge mom.

“I’ve really seen the movement of women of color from regular leadership to more powerful positions,” Crumpton said.

Sheila Hilton has served as a GATA sponsor for 11 years, and she said as the university grows more diverse, clubs have become more diverse. She said having a black president for GATA shows that the club looks at good leadership, not skin color.

“For the Women of GATA, I think that when we have rushes and women see the diversity that we have, they are more drawn to our club,” Hilton said. “As a club, I feel like we do not see diversity, we see who the person is as a whole and what that person can bring to our group.”

Nu Kappa Psi president Tryce Prince said having a few black presidents may not mean clubs are getting more diverse, but it could encourage black and minority students to get involved in clubs in the future.

“What we’re seeing with social clubs at ACU is finally kind of a breakthrough in allowing minority students to be in leadership positions, not just faces for the sake of diversity in social clubs,” Prince said.

The Office of Student Life does not have a list of past social club presidents, said Chris Herrington, student organizations and productions coordinator.

The new social club presidents are: