‘You’ve never had a president like me’: Harper wins Senior Beta Presidency

By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1

All throughout the commonwealth students and teachers alike sat with quiet expectancy on March 13 as Kentucky Beta students cast their virtual votes for the 2024-2025 Senior Beta President. Among those expectant Beta students was Barren County High School junior Grant Harper, one of the few individuals running for the executive office.

With the voting window closed and the ballots counted it was revealed Harper had been named the victor, making him the official Senior Beta President-Elect. Harper will assume the presidency after the national convention in June.

“It is super exciting to be able to represent our state,” Harper said.

In this role Harper will preside over the state convention and officer meetings, helping form new Beta Clubs, welcome new officers, serve as “the face of Beta [and] help wherever Beta sees fit.” Winning the executive office at the state level also makes him eligible to run for president on the national stage, competing against all the others elected in their respective state elections.

“It’s not required but it’s expected,” Harper said. “You [run] to show respect for all the people elected [at state conventions]. I do plan on campaigning for national president.”

Although he just now won the office — though, he said, he wanted to run as a sophomore but wasn’t allowed — the initial spark of interest was ignited in Harper in fourth grade when he met the 2016 state officers.

“My first convention was when I decided I wanted to run for president,” he said. “I looked at my mom and I saw the officers on stage and said ‘I want to do that someday.’”

“They made me feel connected and like they really cared. It made me feel like I had a place of belonging in Beta…ever since then I’ve been fired up. I wanted that experience for everyone else,” he added.

Flash forward to an eighth grade Harper gathered around a Cracker Barrel table with a group of friends thinking of a slogan and speeches for his presidential campaign. According to Harper that tableside chat gave birth to the slogan he used, and is planning to use during the national campaign, that is based on Genie from Aladdin, Harper’s self-proclaimed “all-time favorite Disney character.”

Roughly three years after that Cracker Barrel strategy meeting, Harper was ready to officially launch his campaign for Senior Beta President. One thing his eighth grade self could not envision, however, was the virtual aspect his campaign would be forced to adopt.

Due to the hazardous weather the convention was forced to go virtual as many of the roads were unsafe. Not only did this delay the disclosure of national qualifiers, but it also forced Harper to use social media rather than his preferred means of in-person.

“I’m an extrovert; I love speaking and talking to people so when I found out it was going to be virtual I was freaking out,” Harper said. “So basically all of my campaign was virtual. I went to a few schools to visit and speak with students but I had to use social media…to push my name out there. It was definitely a unique challenge.”

“I had prepared to campaign in person,” Harper added. “I had been posting on social media but not nearly enough for the virtual convention. I went from posting maybe once a week to two to three times a week.”

April Harper, Barren County High School counselor and Grant’s mother, said she has been cataloging a great deal about each year’s candidates — from how they dressed and their mannerisms to the questions they were asked and their speeches — ever since Harper’s sister ran for the office in 2022 which, combined with his roughly four years of work and his various connections established through his other extracurriculars, prepared Harper well for his 2024 state campaign.

“He really thought through every detail,” Stephanie Esters, the high school and state Beta sponsor, said. “The entire campaign, like the word choice, who to reach out to, was so well thought out. He’s really gone above and beyond and we couldn’t be prouder.”

All-in-all, Harper said he is excited to serve as the state president and hopes to bring “a positive light” to the state conventions. He also hopes to win the national convention election.

“You’ve never had a president like me,” Harper said in his campaign speech, parodying the classic Genie line, “Never had a friend like me.”