Photo courtesy of Nat Brown
Jacob Redd, '29, narrowly won the freshman presidential election this past month. He was one of six candidates vying for the position.
"It was daunting," he related about the process. "I didn't think I would do very well, honestly."
"I saw people like Pedro [Pires, '29] and Erik [Sandquist, '29] and how the people rallied behind them," Redd said, "and how [sic] great candidates they were—everyone there, honestly."
It was only after the debates that he felt he had a solid chance at winning.
"Debate is my thing," he said, "I did that in high school too with CC [Classical Conversations] and with Stoa [a homeschool speech and debate club]." He viewed the debates as the place to "articulate what exactly I wanted to do and … why people should vote for me and … give those reasons."
"Get Wisdom, Get Insight." These words from Proverbs grounded Redd's campaign and would be the linchpin of his platform. There are two facets to this, Redd commented, "there's me getting wisdom and insight from the student body … and the other is for a specific event."
As it stands right now, the idea is for an event where freshmen and seniors can break bread together.
"It's meant to just have conversation and to get that going between the freshmen and the seniors," Redd said. There would be prompts on the table to spark interaction. Conversation is important to Redd, who sees himself as "a very social guy."
"I just see friends everywhere," Redd said. "There's always someone to talk to. And if there's people I don't know, I like getting to know them, too."
Redd hopes to have three events this semester. Other ideas include Covenant Jeopardy and bringing back Milk Fest. However, he wants more ideas.
He said that he thought Adam Crabb '28, the 2024-2025 freshman class president, had a strength—he brought ideas. "They were wild ideas; they were wacky ideas …" Redd said. "He just came up with stuff.”
For example, Milk Fest "brought the community together around something really stupid. And sometimes, stupid things are what you need to have fun."
"I'm not amazing at coming up with ideas—I wouldn't say I'm an ideas person," Redd shared, "but what I am good at is evaluating ideas and figuring out whether or not they're good."
Redd emphasized his desire for "open communication with the student body." While email is his preferred method of communication—documentation is key—he is open to in-person conversations, texts, even letters delivered straight to his mailbox.
Students can reach out to him directly at jacob.redd@covenant.edu or through the Student Senate email at studentsenate@covenant.edu.
Thumbnail courtesy of Nat Brown.