To the First-year student who intends to double major in Physics and Biology, has yet to vote in an election larger than the one for High School Student Body President, and would rather watch anything but FOX News or CNN, we want your help. As the 2012 Mock Convention Fundraising Chairmen, we will show you that there is more to politics, then well, politics.

We portray Mock Convention as more than a campus club: we market Mock Con as a group of young entrepreneurs and rising politicians. Our success not only depends on reaching monetary goals, but also on involving other organizations to reach the entire W&L and Lexington community. Our market ranges from the student who “swipes home” Mock Con memorabilia to the smiling alumnus, who donates money in memory of his or her days at W&L. However, Mock Convention will struggle to reach its full audience without money, and we certainly cannot raise it through taxes (how anti-Republican).

In a broad sense, the money we raise pays for everything from this very publication to our well-planned (and well-attended) social extravaganzas, such as the Spring 2011 Kick-Off and the Presidential Gala. However, in addition to these primary Mock Con events, the 2012 Steering Committee has added the Fall 2010 Speaker Series as a way bring even more political standouts to our campus.

In past conventions, Mock Con brought leaders like Bill Clinton and Harry Truman to W&L, and these influential men are the kind of people that we look forward to meeting. However, as Treasurer, Brandon Allred, and Finance Chair, Ben Turnbull, discovered during their summer abroad in London, often times it is all the more meaningful to exchange stories with W&L alumni. It goes without saying that everyone we meet will help us to leave our mark on the 2012 Mock Convention.

Thus far, our travel plans are tentative, but arrangements to visit regional hubs, such as Dallas, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Richmond, Baltimore, New York, and San Francisco have been discussed.

Fundraising has to be done; it’s a necessary evil. First-years, are you up for the challenge?

Best,
Becky Mickel and Bobby Rutherford, 2012 Fundraising Chairmen