Interview with Lipscomb’s New Freshman President, Tucker Dukes

I had the opportunity to speak with Lipscomb’s Freshman class president, Tucker Dukes, and the Vice President, Emma Singleton, to learn more about their campaigns and plans moving forward for the freshman class.

Lucy Edgley: How long have you been at Lipscomb?

Tucker Dukes: This is my third year.

That would mean you got here in sixth grade or..?

Seventh grade

Seventh grade, okay, do you think that you not being a “lifer” allows you to bring anything unique to the table? How does that make you feel—running for president since you haven’t been here since fifth grade, but you’re also not the newest?

Well, I’ve seen like other schools and how different schools have worked. I can understand being in a different environment.

What drove you to run for president?

Well I thought it would make a good fit for me. I thought it would be a good way to serve the school because I haven’t been here very long, and not everybody even knows who I am yet, so I thought if I did that then it would help, and it would give me a purpose to serve the school.

Obviously you ran unopposed. Did you like running unopposed, and would you have done anything differently if you had competition? 

It was easy for me, but if I had had competition I probably would have spent more time on my speech.

What did the support look like from your family and friends, and did anyone advise you not to run?

My family was very supportive of me, and everyone seemed to be happy about me as president. 

For those who did not attend your speech, what would you like them to know about you and your presidency and your goals for the future?

Well, I want to spend as much time as possible with improving the student experience. That’s kind of just my goal—to just make life better for everyone and for us.