One of
the most enjoyable and long-term beneficial aspect of college life was my
involvement with Student Government. I think it started already in my freshman
year when I was a “floor rep”. It got amped up on my junior year when I became
head of the Men’s Council. It ended in my senior year when I served
as Student Body President. The last was fun even before it started, as
there was a long and interesting campaign season.
Two
cousins, Blondie and Blackie Doering, were school mates one year behind me. When
I decided to run for office they chose to be my campaign managers. That was
fun, as we made signs, had slogans, made some campaign speeches etc. They were
great and we succeeded. If my memory is correct I received some 90% of the
popular vote. Which probably totaled some 600 in this small school.
The
task of Student Body President involved quite a bit. I chaired all student
council meetings, oversaw a whole host of student committees and met weekly
with the college dean to discuss campus life. One of the perks of the office
was that it carried with it a school grant in the fabulous amount of $100.00
for the year. (This sounds infinitesimal now, but since my total college costs
for the year were around $500.00 this was a nice little help.)
One
minor aspect and very strange “duty” of the student body president was to
lead the entire campus in table prayers each day for the evening meal. In those
days we had a very limited and set time for dinner. It was served “family
style” and there were no food options. We ate what was set before us or went
hungry. The members of the Student Council sat at an elevated head
table. I led the table prayer or designated someone else to do it. In
retrospect this
all seems very strange.
One of
the heavier assignments was that the Dean consulted me when serious discipline
actions needed to be taken against students. I still have some regret over one
particular case. One of the young men had been caught stealing some money from
another student. He confessed and seemed truly repentant. I also knew he came
from a rural family and his parents were extremely proud that their son was
entering the teaching ministry of the church. But the dean was adamant “This
may be his first offense, but it’s serious. He’s out of here.” Despite my
not strong enough protests and pleas he was sent home to his devastated parents
and to this day I wonder what he did with the rest of his life. I still regret
my failure in giving him another chance.
One of
the things I did of which I was most proud is that I suggested, then organized
and finally chaired the very first nationwide conference of all student body
presidents from each of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod colleges across the
country. This was unheard of at that time and our college president
was very afraid of this. He feared it might lead to some kind of inappropriate
demands from these radical students. It was of course, nothing of the kind. Just a good
time for us to get together, learn from and support each other. One of the
wonderful results of this was that for many years after that I would run into
those student leaders and see what a positive difference they were making in he
life of the church and society.
There
is one other aspect of all this about which I have very good feelings. It turns
out that in 1920 my father Oscar Kieschnick had served as “sem buck’
for this Concordia. In 1950 I had that title and some 25 years after
me our son David was elected student body president at this same school. Just a
quiet satisfaction. And the lessons I learned in that position served me well
in a variety of positions I held later in my professional life
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