First SBP Candidate Announces Run for 2018

Ian Wilson, a PPE major and proud Alaskan, has announced his intentions to run for the next Student Body President of The King’s College.

Since transferring to King’s from a Christian college in Oregon, Ian has spent time working in admissions and serving as Chamberlain for the House of Ronald Reagan.

If elected, Wilson hopes to change the way King’s views spiritual life and desires to bring a new light and feeling of excitement to King’s Athletics.

“I think spiritual life is the biggest thing we struggle with here,” Wilson said. “That is the biggest part of my campaign.”

Wilson believes that forming a strong Christian community doesn’t come from just adding another committee, but instead from having conversations. The solution is from setting an example, Wilson thinks, and giving people reminders of who they are striving to be at King’s.

Wilson would also like to see a change in how the houses interact with one another. He sees a gap in what they do and hopes to bring in a culture that fosters collaboration.

“We need globalization within the houses,” Wilson said. “They have great ideas but they never have a platform or incentive to share these ideas.”

Wilson sees a lot of potential in the creative spirit of each house, and wants to give the presidents a bit more power in council meetings.

One method he has come up with is for houses to get a small grant if they can come up with an idea that can help the others, such as a way to streamline payments and systems that utilize alumni better than most houses.

“I want to restructure the meetings so that they can be more president-led, because they have a much better feel for their houses,” Wilson included.

Athletics at King’s is another topic that Ian hopes to focus on. Student-athletes don’t play for scholarships; they play because they want to. By continuing doing what they love and bringing a level of excitement to King’s, Ian has a profound respect for them.

Ian would like to see one or two big games during the year become mandatory for students to attend.

“There is already the interregnum bonus for getting a certain amount from your house at a game,” Wilson said. “There should be a game like house-future competition, where you have to have a certain amount of people and give them an incentive within the house cup.”

“This is me saying to King’s that I’m not going anywhere my senior year—I’m going to keep investing in this school,”Wilson asserted. 

Wilson also addressed one of the most prevalent issues, according to a Twitter poll by the Empire State Tribune, that needs to be addressed at King’s: the culture surrounding the honor code.

Wilson believes that views on the honor code are dependent on the experiences people have had with it. Some people see it as a way to punish people, while others see it as a means for students to grow and better themselves. Wilson hopes for it to become more like the latter.

“It is much more about having a conversation and saying ‘this is wrong for these reasons based on my experience,’” Wilson said.

While all new students learn about the honor code during New Student Orientation, Ian wants it to be more of a priority during that time. They must be instructed as to what the honor code is and it’s intention for being a part of King’s.

“We don’t live alone in community,” said Wilson. “Our actions have consequences to the whole community.”

Wilson sees himself as just another student, who wants to give back to King’s as much as possible. He doesn’t see being SBP as a trophy to grab and put on the wall, but rather a way to re-address the structures that are in place at King’s and use them to the best of their abilities.

“This is me saying to King’s that I’m not going anywhere my senior year—I’m going to keep investing in this school,” Wilson asserted.