By Journalist Kennedy Thomason (OSU).
Evan Shaw and Amanda McCumber accepted nominations Wednesday night
Opening joint session was held Wednesday evening.
Session has begun.
Wednesday night the candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor were nominated during joint session.
The nominees for Governor include Evan Shaw (TU), the current president pro tempore, and Amanda McCumber (OU), the current chief clerk administrator.
Fellow delegates nominated and endorsed seconds for each candidate. Following nominations, candidates were allotted five minutes to accept.
The 13 star, Shaw, described his past leadership experience. It includes all delegation positions for Tulsa University: Secretary, Treasurer, Vice Chair and Chair, as well as his current seat.
“Throughout all my time here, I’ve achieved this institutional knowledge about OIL,” Shaw said. “I understand this organization with intimate familiarity. I know how it works, the Senate works, the House works…”
Shaw built on this foundation of knowledge to reach this point in his OIL career.
He explained his preparation in deciding to run for governor.
“When I was deciding to run, I reached out to every single one of your delegation chairs,” Shaw said. “I asked, ‘what does your delegation need from OIL, from exec; what can I do to make this work for you?’”
He emphasized the immediate communication he wants to continue with delegations.
McCumber, an eight star, also addressed the body, sharing her personal approach to the position, saying she would lead with emphasis on community before competition. The pillars of her platform include transparency, community and growth.
“OIL is the first place I felt like I belonged. I almost transferred, but this amazing program kept me here and gave me the time to blossom and grow,” McCumber said.
She shared her leadership experience, from serving as Vice Chair for OU’s delegation to serving under the Secretary of State.
If elected, McCumber plans to hold office hours. Much like her job as a resident assistant, she wants to build and strengthen the community within OIL. McCumber also plans to expand resources for delegations through fundraising efforts.
“Each delegation has a different capacity of different things that they need and that they struggle to get,” McCumber said. “And so, being able to work together, as governor, but also with other leadership and delegation chairs and vice chairs, I think that is crucial to making sure everyone gets to session as they should.”
Elections will be held during session tomorrow.