Mattilyn Winburn on Her Presidential Term at King’s
The King’s 2022-2023 Cabinet | Photo Courtesy of Brent Buterbaugh
The student body elected Mattilyn Winburn as Student Body President for The King’s College’s 2022-23 school year on Feb. 24, 2022.
The King’s College suffered a financial crisis this semester, first announced in Jan. 2023.
Winburn, a senior in the House of Clara Barton, spoke with Colby McCaskill, City Editor at the Empire State Tribune, during Interregnum XVIII about her time as the student body president during a season of financial woes and continued ambiguity about the King’s future.
The following interview has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
Colby McCaskill: How are you feeling right now?
Mattilyn Winburn: That's a big question. I think my heart is torn. There is a lot that goes into how I'm feeling because just personally, being Mattie, I'm a senior. So I'm graduating in a month, and there are a lot of feelings that come with that. There is excitement. There is nervousness. There's sadness of leaving everyone behind and also the uncertainty of not knowing what's going to happen in the next month just as a graduate. But on top of being a student leader and especially a Student Body President, it's been tough, because it's been so, so encouraging to see so many people step up in the ways that they have. To see people come together in the ways that they have. And I'm very grateful for the unique perspective I have of being able to kind of peek behind the curtains every once in a while and see how the staff and the faculty and just all the administration has been working so tirelessly for us and fighting for us. I don't necessarily think that everybody gets to see that. I’m grateful for that perspective. I also, on the other hand, really empathize with the juniors and the sophomores and the freshmen who, even more than the graduating class, may not necessarily know where they're going, career-wise; don't know where they're going, academic-wise; don't know what's happening. It's a lot of emotions summed up. It's bittersweet. It stings a little, the way that I see it all unfolding, losing a little bit of hope every day. But it's also been so, so sweet and precious to see the way that the community has come together.
Colby McCaskill: Has that uncertainty, as you see in the student body, extend to your position as well? Do you know more about the situation, or are you in the dark?
Mattilyn Winburn: I'm in the dark about pretty much everything. I mean, I attend the weekly presidential cabinet meetings where I'm able to see some of the behind-the-scenes stuff. But it's mostly just me witnessing all the hard work that the administration is putting in, not necessarily me seeing things unfold that the student body doesn't already know about. So that aspect of it has been hard because I know a lot of people have looked to me for answers, expecting me to have some, and I just have to turn to them with my hands empty and say, “I'm sorry. I don't have the answers.” It's hard enough as a senior and someone who is really committed to the student body, and who loves the student body. But it's also hard as a representative of the students to say, “I don't know.” My job is to be the communicator between the administration and the students. It's really hard to just say: “I know as much as you.”
McCaskill: So you talked a little, before we started recording, about how during Interregnum you just felt burnt out. Has that been most of this year or just this moment in time?
Mattilyn Winburn: Oh yeah, I mentioned I had some personal things going on [during Interregnum]. But with the school, I don't feel burnt out. I think I feel the same as everybody else with this looming uncertainty; kind of paralyzed, not knowing what foot to put forward next because you don't know where it's going to lead. I really empathize with that frozen feeling. It just feels like we're in limbo right now and you never quite know what to do with limbo.
Colby McCaskill: Do you remember why you wanted to be Student Body President?
Mattilyn Winburn: Yeah. It was very clear to me stepping into King’s that the student leaders in particular were kind of make-or-break for the student experience here. As I stepped into Barton, the leaders that I had my freshman year took me under their wing and made my house a home. I knew from the very beginning that that's what I wanted to be for the next year's girls coming in. I did Helmsman my first year and I grew from there. I fell in love with my house even more than I already had. When the opportunity presented itself to step up into the position of Barton president, I did so very eagerly because of the love that I had for the girls in my house and the students as a whole. When the opportunity presented itself for Student Body President, it just was the logical next step for me. The people of this institution are what makes it great and what better way to serve them than to represent them? It's what I love doing and it's who I love that I'm doing it for. I would say, easily, it's the people of the student body that made me want to run.
Colby McCaskill: Has that changed since this whole rightsizing to limbo state?
Mattilyn Winburn: No. I think it hasn't changed at all. If anything, it's what's kept me afloat. I think that, really, the only thing that's kept me pushing forward through this time of uncertainty and the thing that has made me want to keep going in this role has been the students. As I said, it's really as a senior knowing I'm going to graduate from the school in May. It would be really easy for me to just move on with my life, but I can't do that. I can't help but empathize with the students and try to figure out as much as I can for their sake, or just to encourage them as much as I can. The season is hard for everybody. I mean, usually, the senioritis just kicks in for the seniors, but it's kicking in for everybody this semester. So, I would say it hasn't changed at all. If anything, it's still the very thing that's keeping pushing me forward and making sure that I'm not burnt out in my position as Student Body President.
Colby McCaskill: What kinds of things have you been doing behind the scenes as this Student Body President this semester that we may not know about?
Mattilyn Winburn: A lot of meetings, and a lot of communication with the administration about how the student body is responding to certain things. There's been a lot of feedback, kind of an eyes on the ground type of vibe where it's like: “OK, what's happening in the student body?” While the administration is running around making these decisions, communicating all these new things, they don't really know how the student body is responding or what's being said. I've kind of been the one to communicate that to them: “OK, well, this wasn't necessarily responded to too well. This needs more clarification. The students need more support in this area.” Thankfully, they've been really discerning about what is being communicated from who; especially in the community updates, being so intentional about who's making those announcements. I've been grateful as a student worker to know that they have my back in that way, while also allowing me to step up in ways and to speak out when I can.
Colby McCaskill: So, have you been in contact with Stockwell Day at all?
Mattilyn Winburn: Yes. President Day and I used to meet every week. Most of our conversations now are more sporadic because he has a lot of meetings that he's been doing. I do get to speak with him during the President's cabinet every Tuesday, and just kind of unload on him everything that's been happening from my perspective and listen to what's going on from his end. If I need anything or if he needs anything, he'll just call or I'll call and we'll just talk it out. He's been great to me. I mean, I know that some parts of the student body have their own opinions about it. I see him as having genuine care for the college. I mean, let's be real, he is a politician, and sometimes the way that he communicates things comes across that way. But seeing him in action behind the scenes, he is still holding out hope. I think a lot of the student's frustration, though, is the fact that the line hasn't been cut for that hope. Everybody just at this point wants to say yes or no. So it may be frustrating to them that hope is still being held out. But from the opposite perspective, it's been encouraging to see that he does care for the students.
Colby McCaskill: We just get a limited perspective from the community updates. I guess the Stockwell you see is quite different from the one we see. You've been Student Body President for all of this year. Did you know in November that this situation was coming?
Mattilyn Winburn: No idea. The first time I knew about it was in January. When I got back right before school started, Stockwell called me into his office for a meeting and basically explained all this. He was like, “Give me your feedback, like, what are you thinking?” I was really honest with him. Students have had trust issues with King’s in the past because of a lack of transparency. So I encouraged him to be as transparent as possible. We've kind of seen the double-edged sword that transparency brings. It's nice to know everything. But it's also hard to know everything. There still have been some trust issues amongst the student body. Some people say: “They know what's going to happen. They're just not telling us. We are shutting down, they're just not telling us.” That’s simply not true. The student body knows, besides the confidential information of who the institutions are that are looking to merge with us, everything. They've been completely transparent with the student body. It's been hard to just see the confusion that transparency has caused because everything is just so up in the air right now.
Colby McCaskill: Circling back to you, it sounds like there's a lot of grief about what King’s will be and what King’s has been. How are you personally working through that?
Mattilyn Winburn: I don't think I am yet. I don't think I've allowed myself the space to grieve something that I don't know is dead yet. I've kept hope that King’s will stay alive. As I said earlier, hope is slowly dying every day. And that makes me sad, but I don't think I've given myself the space to fully grieve what King’s has been. I mean, King’s has its ups and downs and I do have a love-hate relationship with it. But it's been my home for the past four years, and there are people that I've met and formed relationships with that I can see myself holding those relationships with for the rest of my life. So it'll be hard to let go. I don't think that'll be a unique experience though. I think that for a lot of people, whether you've loved your time at King's or whether you hate it, there will be some aspect of it that will be hard to let go.
Colby McCaskill: You wrote a TKC Letter, didn’t you?
Mattilyn Winburn: Yeah, I put off writing it for a really long time because I knew that writing it would force me to process more than I wanted to process at the time. I was enjoying reading the letters. I was enjoying the fact that the letters existed and that the Project existed. I was so proud of everyone that had put effort into it, had the ideas and made it a reality. But I knew that sitting down and writing a letter myself was going to be tough. I was in class with Dr. Tubbs, and he said something that really stuck with me. He said it was a great form of closure. That just hit me. I had not thought of it as a form of closure. Before, I thought of it as an attempt to save King’s. I thought it was something that people were going to see, and be encouraged, and be so blown away by the stories that it was going to save King’s. I still think that that is a possibility. But I also realize that, if that doesn't come to fruition, if King’s does close, how beautiful of a form of closure would that be to have everyone's stories centralized in one place? I saw the duality of that. I saw the beauty in it. This one thing has the potential to do great things and save this college. But it also has the potential to be the most beautiful, perfect, form of closure that we could ask for as a student body.
Colby McCaskill: What do you want to tell the student body? Anything specific?
Mattie Winburn: I think if I could only say one thing, it would be that whatever feelings you're having, they're completely valid. I've talked to so many people who have had such an array of emotions regarding the situation. There are some people who are extremely sad. There are some people who have made up their minds that they're leaving. There are some people who are sticking with King’s if it is a thing next semester. There are people who are frustrated with the administration. There are people who are just heartbroken. There are people who are excited to move on to the next phase of their lives. There are people who are uncertain. I think that as I've processed my own emotions about everything that's been going on, I've realized that every single one of these emotions is OK to feel. It's OK to be sad, and it's OK to also be excited. Those two emotions seem conflicting, but they can coexist. I'm very, very proud and encouraged to see the way that the students have handled this challenge and have handled their own personal feelings and have come together in a way that in my four years here, I've never seen the community come together before. So, as Mattie, but also a Student Body President, I'm just very proud of everyone and how they've handled it. It's not been easy at all. But one thing about King’s is that people don't give up a fight very easily.
Mattilyn Winburn | Photo Courtesy of Brent Buterbaugh
Colby McCaskill is a freshman at The King’s College majoring in Journalism, Culture and Society. He is also the City Editor for the Empire State Tribune. He hates to lose at chess and enjoys long runs in the rain.