First Vice President:
Rupert Chen
[ vp1@njcl.org ]
Most Important Duties:
The First Vice President is an incredibly fulfilling position—speaking from my own perspective, the JCL has made a great difference in my life, and I relish the opportunity to help ensure that future students will have the same opportunity to find their passions within the JCL. In the NJCL Constitution, the First Vice President is given a broad mandate to expand, promote, and publicize the Junior Classical League. These are the most important, and indeed the only, duties. This means that you have great flexibility in determining where you would like to focus your efforts, and what goals you would like to pursue. Since each First Vice President may decide their own tactics for publicizing the JCL and for lowering the barriers to becoming a JCLer, the day-to-day work of the First Vice President is organized around individual strategy.
How to Prepare for Office:
Above all, a prospective First Vice President ought to have promising ideas and a good familiarity with the JCL as a national organization. As this role centers on making this organization easy to join, it is important to understand how students and teachers are incentivized to join currently, and what factors are making this process more difficult. First Vice President experience, whether on the state or local level, is therefore helpful, but not necessary—it is certainly possible to understand the various challenges facing chapters and members-at-large as an engaged and interested member.
Campaign Analysis:
In preparing to run for election at the National Convention, you should consider your own strategy for carrying out the duties of the First Vice President. There are many factors for you to consider—for instance, you might encourage teachers to join, or perhaps instead reach out directly to students; you might attempt to expand membership in historically-involved schools, or else focus on new areas. It is the particular blend of these various ideas that will inform your personal style of First Vice Presidency. This means that you should be prepared to answer specific questions about your platform and the results that you hope it will achieve, as well as explain the broader philosophy guiding you. I encourage you to run! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me by email.