Courtesy of Micah Draper and Eugene Covington

Two student leaders with distinct visions for campus life are competing for the position of Sophomore Class President.

Micah Draper ’28, the current First-Year Class Council president, and Eugene Covington ’28, a former YCC events coordinator, are the two candidates vying for the sophomore presidency. Draper is running on a platform rooted in student engagement and building on his experience and track record, while Covington emphasizes inclusivity, transparency and reimagining events as a tool for advocacy.

Covington campaigns to redefine events as a platform for advocacy and inclusion

A former events coordinator for the Yale College Council and Berkeley Representative for the First-Year Class Council, Eugene Covington’s ’28 campaigns for Sophomore Class Council President on three platform ideas: transparency, advocacy and equitability.

Covington believes that upholding these three lofty terms and instilling unity among the class of 2028 comes down to the events students engage with and what the events say about the interests of the class. It was this vision that inspired him to run for class president.

“I don’t discredit the previous administration,” Covington said. “But I think that there is value in looking at ways and avenues to find that intersection within events and policy to actually help the student body and help advocate for the people. Otherwise, there is no value in the event in the first place.”

This year, he organized a cystic fibrosis fundraiser in collaboration with the a cappella group Whim ’n Rhythm, managed the Harvard-Yale Tailgate, arranged the FCC Formal in Schwarzman Commons and facilitated connections for the Night at the Museum and Scavenger Hunt at the Yale Peabody Museum.

Covington said his campaign slogan puts him “out there.” “Don’t Be Mean, Vote Eugene” is typed on his campaign flyer alongside motifs and stylistic notes reminiscent of the movie “Mean Girls.”

He said the goal of both the flyer and his daily interactions is to make sure everyone knows his name and what he stands for.

“As SoCo president, I’d make sure that not only I, but my E-Board members, in fact, know who we are, what we stand for, and our initiatives for the entire campus culture at Yale and the events that we pursue,” he said.

Aside from his work with the YCC, Covington has other political experience under his belt. He is an energy and committee chair for Yale Model Congress and a Senior Legislative Fellow for Yale College Democrats.

To promote inclusion, he hopes to partner with local minority-owned businesses and restaurants to throw events that foster culture and connection. He also wants to encourage incoming freshmen to get involved with the Council early on in their Yale experience.

This time next year, Covington hopes that he does a good enough job as SoCo President that students are approaching him and inquiring about his future campaigns.

“Success would look like students coming up to me and saying, ‘Are you running again?’ I think that if you have students actively saying this, there is an itch for you to be in a position of trust and advocacy,” he believes.

From small-town roots to campus leader, Draper banks on experience and familiarity

The thesis of Micah Draper’s ’28 “Why Yale” essay and his campaign for Sophomore Class Council President have one thing in common: an emphasis on community.

Draper’s interest in fostering community was cultivated by his rural North Carolinian upbringing.

“I didn’t realize until I came to Yale how community-oriented my town was,” Draper said. “There’s one stoplight in my town, and you get to know people quickly. It’s literally half the size of Yale’s undergrad population, and you create these relationships very fast, and since the beginning of my first year, I’ve strived to create a similar community here.”

He said that student input is critical in actualizing this goal. For example, this year, Draper sent out a mass survey to select the theme for the first-year formal. The same was done for the movie choice for First-Year Movie Night. 

“And at the end of the day, if my classmates and peers know how much input matters to me and, for a lack of a better word, vibe with who I am as a person and what I want to bring to the table, then I know they’ll elect me,” Draper said.

In his freshman year of high school, Draper ran for class president and ultimately won. He later ran again during his sophomore, junior and senior years — winning each time. 

Draper is the president of the First-Year Class Council for the class of 2028. His inspiration to run this year was in part to continue his streak.

Draper believes that in traditional American politics, the incumbent tends to garner an excessive amount of attention. However, with his candidacy, he believes that being the incumbent gives him an edge, an experience that makes him the “better” candidate.

“I’ve met so many members of my class that I probably would have never met otherwise through study breaks at Bass Cafe, the first-year snowball fight, and our upcoming first-ever class movie on Old Campus,” Draper said. “I love it so much, and I’ve met some of my best friends through it, and I know that I can do it well.”

In the FCC, he created the first-ever New Haven Connections Branch, where a cohort of representatives volunteer to research local New Haven volunteer programs that students in the class can become involved with.

Draper wants members of his class to know that he spends seven to ten hours a week researching, planning events and hosting discussions with administrators. He also takes 95 percent of the credit for the FCC’s unprecedented efforts, such as introducing hot chocolate and candy canes to the annual first-year snowball fight and bringing marquee letters and an ice sculpture to the first-year formal.

“There’s so much behind-the-scenes work that students don’t see and that students shouldn’t see because they didn’t run to be president,” Draper. “I took that on, and I’m happy to do it, but it is a little disheartening to hear that people weren’t aware of that. I’m glad that students don’t see it because it means that everything is running smoothly.”

Voting begins on April 10 at 9 a.m. on YaleConnect and closes on April 11 at 9 p.m.