It is a busy morning on Winthrop day when Imani Belton and Brandon Jackson climb the staircase in DiGS to the quiet upper floor. For them, it might have just been any other day: it had been just over a week since they were elected president and vice president of the Council of Student Leaders, and each day since had been busier than the last.
“The announcement that we won came at 12 p.m. that day, and the first assignments rolled in at 3 p.m.,” Jackson said. “There was no ‘congratulations, we’ll give you a couple days off.’”
That day, March 29, was the culmination of a strenuous campaign as Belton and Jackson won with 574 votes, narrowly beating opponents Kalea Gibson and Malik Frazier, who garnered 558 votes.
The two scarcely had time to come to come to an interview, but what they were able to say the morning of April 6 shows no indication they plan to slow down in implementing their ideas.
“You have that honeymoon period where everyone is trying to learn about each other,” Belton said, “and then you have an idea, then fall break, and then you want to produce that idea, and then it’s Christmas break, and by the time you come back it’s spring semester and no one has any motivation to do anything.”
It’s nothing new for President Belton and Vice President Jackson; they have followed a strategy of constant motivation and improvement since first joining the CSL.
“During Brandon’s freshman year we both applied to be in council. I did not get a seat,” Belton said, “But we moved ourselves up the ranks. I came back and spring and got a rank, and Brandon came in and got a seat during the fall.”
Since then, the pair had persevered into higher and higher positions in the CSL, with Jackson earning the position of secretary in July 2018, where he was able to develop connections and learn in-depth about the organization. That provided the platform for further growth. The spark of inspiration came one night in October when Jackson first brought up the idea of running for office to Belton.
“I think for both of us it was just a step up in leadership position. Capitalizing on the true potential in both of us, so that we can lead not only the council but the student body as well,” Jackson said.
The new president and vice president have clear goals. Their campaign focused on the spirit of interconnectedness across the school. The platform recalls an earlier time where the CSL had much greater reach, and their ambition is to return the council to that former glory.
“There was a time before we were here, where CSL partnered with almost every organization and department on campus,” Belton said. “We really just want to get that back out there just so students will know how to effectively use us and who we are.”
The two plan to bring a new sense of interconnectedness to the council through their platform, though time will tell if they can motivate the right people to make the changes they need. Looking back on the campaign, Jackson hopes to take the lessons learned and move forward.
“If nothing else, it was a learning experience for sure. There were ups and downs, goods and bads. There was a lot we can take away from it,” Jackson said.
