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Lights! Cameras! Skimmer hats and ballots! Red, white and blue flags transforming Washington and Lee University’s Duchossois Tennis Center into a nationally celebrated Republican presidential convention.
Last weekend, W&L hosted the 28th Mock Convention. The event is celebrated for its promotion of political engagement among the future generation, and it is widely credited for being one of the most accurate political mock conventions in the country with an accuracy rate of 74 percent.
Hoping to uphold the convention’s legacy, the students acting as delegates selected former President Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential election. Additionally, students predicted that Elise Stefanik will be Trump’s running mate. Stefanik holds a seat in the House of Representatives for New York’s 21st district.
The prediction was announced following the distribution of delegates where student representatives from each state determined how many delegates they would award to Trump and/or his running-mate, Nikki Haley. The students had fun with this part and with each state they said a few lines of why their state is unique.
For example, the representative of Maryland said, “As the representative of the great state of Maryland, I recognize that it is home to many special things: blue crabs, Old Bay at every meal, and throughout the state – Baltimore included – literate high schoolers. We cast all 37 votes to Donald Trump.”
After the prediction was made, a short video was shown of Trump congratulating the students for their efforts at the convention and asking for their endorsement.
Music played, friends laughed and students from both political parties collaborated to make this year’s convention a success.
W&L senior and Mock Con Political Chair Foster Harris told The News-Gazette, “Our team was thrilled by the overwhelmingly positive response from the student body. At Mock Convention 2020, the students gave Bernie Sanders a standing ovation, and at Mock Convention 2024, Donald Trump received the same reaction when we revealed our prediction.”
“With over 95 percent of the student body taking part and the Political Steering Committee featuring the presidents of both College Democrats and College Republicans among its ranks, the student body has continued its tradition of getting into the process no matter which party is featured,” Harris continued. “I am incredibly proud to go to a university where such an incredible event is able to take place every four years, and the Washington and Lee University community is what makes Mock Convention so special.”
As a final surprise on Saturday night, singer-songwriter Billy Ray Cyrus was cheered to the stage alongside his wife, Firerose Cyrus. The pair sang a number of songs including two of Billy Ray Cyrus’s top hits, “Achy Breaky Heart” and “Old Town Road”.
Red, white, and blue balloons fell from the rafters of the Tennis Center unleashing a party as the Cyrus couple performed. None of the students appeared to have ‘achy breaky hearts’ as they happily danced with their fellow classmates, relishing in the success of another Mock Convention.
