Earning his spots

The annals of the rich history of Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in Baton Rouge will now have an Evangeline Parish flair to it after Ville Platte native and Mamou High School graduate Chandler Vidrine was elected president of the sophomore class. Consensus holds that Vidrine is the first elected position holder at the university to be from Ville Platte.
“It’s a huge deal to me, and I am proud to say that, as a young individual, I want to let the rest of the youth from Ville Platte know that no matter where you come from or what you do in life there are always opportunities,” Vidrine said. “It’s your choice to go out there and get it.”
He continued, “My goal is to always represent Ville Platte at the highest level possible.”
A year ago, Vidrine made an unsuccessful run for freshman class senator, and that led to him being named chief of staff for the freshman class. This year, being a year wiser as a sophomore, he decided to make another run for it.
Vidrine explained the nomination process to become a candidate at Southern. “What we have to do to start the process is to fill out an application,” he stated. “Once you are approved by the Registrar’s Office, you then have to take the Student Government Association (SGA) test.”
According to Vidrine, the test comes after a series of workshops and covers topics from the university’s constitution, the university’s by-laws, and the university’s election code. “Afterward, you have about five days to study all these things, and then you have to go and take a test on these materials,” he said. “You have to pass the test with at least an 80 in order for you to be a nominee.”
From there, the election process began. This year it ran from March 12 through 16. Vidrine said that he, along with the other candidates, had to campaign everyday during that week. “We had a tent that was set up, and everyone was designated a spot in the tent to set up tables,” he explained. “We had to spend money to campaign, and we all averaged around $2,500.00 to campaign. I handed out food, push cards, election signs, candy, and chips.”
All the campaigning for Vidrine paid off as he was elected. Now that he assumes the responsibilities of sophomore class president, he explained some of his plans for the year. “My main focuses are to get the student body to know more about scholarship opportunities that are around in the city and the parish,” he said. “I am also aiming to get the class to know each other more at a higher level by producing more events to create more of a family like area as an HBCU (Historically Black College and University) School should be.”
“My plans are to also build up my class’s professional skills by making professional development events,” he continued, “and the last thing is to make sure that everyone is on task academically by making tutors more accessible and working with the IT department on figuring out ways to enhance it for those who have online assignments.”
Vidrine is a criminal justice major at Southern and hopes to attend the university’s law school. He has aspirations on becoming a prosecutor and then running for either lieutenant governor or attorney general of Louisiana. Before reaching that point, he plans on running for Student Government Association Vice President.
While not busying himself with student affairs on the campus of Southern, Vidrine works for the Louisiana Municipal Association as the executive director administrator assistant. He described a normal day. “I wake up, go to school, and go to my classes,” he said. “Then, afterward, I go to LMA and do whatever I need to do, and I return back to school. Then I either hang out with my friends, attend a meeting with some of the supervisors on campus, or I’m studying. And, then, I go to sleep.”
He expressed that being sophomore class president, on top of his other responsibilities, is important to him because it will better prepare him for his career goals. “I feel that it is very important because it is training me and building me up to become a bolder person especially socially due to the fact that I want to get into a career where being social and being business-like and being organized is the main focus,” he said. “That’s why I continue to keep myself busy and occupied.”
Vidrine’s involvement in leadership activities began while as a student at Mamou High School. “Mamou High prepared me very well for Southern especially with the AP (Advanced Placement) classes and especially with my principal Liz Chatelain,” he expressed. “She stayed on me 24/7. Really and truly, if it wouldn’t be for my principal, I probably wouldn’t be where I am right now as per my leadership position.”
The son of Celena Thomas and John Vidrine was Mamou class president all four years and was the BETA Club president during his senior year. He was also named Student of the Year for Mamou High School as well as assistant to the athletic director and Battle of the Classes assistant coordinator.
“I believe it is really important to get involved especially with extracurricular activities,” Vidrine concluded. “It is important because it trains you to become an adult, to hold responsibilities, and to explore and see what’s out there. It gives you an opportunity to broaden yourself out and not to stay in one spot and be comfortable in that one area. One way of being successful in life is being open and looking into new things.”