By Alyssa Sperrazza
With the start of the spring session of the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Legislature (OIL), delegates will elect a new governor, along with other elected officials. The race for governor between Chief Justice Chase Maxwell and Representative Brian Hughes has a key focal point, with discussion of OIL’s reputation being brought up after some poor decisions over the past few years.
“How you got elected was who brought the best booze,” Representative Hughes said. “There was no activity pass because the activity pass was ‘lets go back to the hotel and drink after.’ But we almost lost being an organization because of that.”
The Council of Student Affairs (COSA) nearly put an end to the organization and OIL’s reputation was certainly tainted in some professional fields.
“It’s really made it hard for the organization the last few years to keep that reputation of being the voice of our generation, the voice of college students,” Hughs said.
OIL is an incredible opportunity for students to learn the legislative and judicial process in very realistic way, so it is important that the next-elected governor is able to restore the damage that was done. Chief Justice Maxwell laid out his stance on the issue.
“I think the number one way you do that is you have to get out to the delegations; you have to explain the rules,” Maxwell said. “Delegation chairs are required to explain the rules but that doesn’t mean people are going to follow them. I’m a criminology major and I can tell you first hand that it is very difficult to be proactive against rules. It is very difficult, as they say in the House, ‘to legislate morality.’”
A major discussion during the debate over the alcohol policy in place was the problem of an executive order verses the vote of the delegates.
“I would just like the vote of the people to see where we should take that,” Maxwell said.
OIL has been a major part of delegates’ lives and has impacted plenty of people. Both Chief Justice Maxwell and Representative Hughes have had some part of their lives greatly affected by this organization and, in part, their personal testimonies inspire them to better OIL.
“OIL is my redemption,” Maxwell said. “At a time in my life where everything seemed in doubt, there was one thing that was solid as stone and that was OIL. I knew I could come here, be accepted by my peers and win. That type of feeling is so rewarding and I want to give that same feeling back to other delegates as this organization has given to me.”
With a deep history in OIL, Representative Hughes believes his roots and experience will suit the role of governor best.
“I feel that my maturity and my experience, and yes as well as my age, really lends myself to being the outward face that OIL needs at this moment from where we’ve been, the last few years, when we’ve lost a lot of respect outside of the organization,” Hughes said.