Kevin Loker is the winner of this year’s Mason Majesty pageant. As the head of Connect2Mason, Loker has helped keep the Mason community stay informed and united. Coming from a small town in South Dakota, Loker has grown into a key student in the communication world at Mason.
Her Campus George Mason: What is your year and major?
Kevin Loker: I’m an anthropology major and I have a bunch of random journalism experience and I’m a senior.
HCGMU: What’s an interesting fact about you?
KL: I’m from a small town in South Dakota. My town has about half as many people as Mason’s population. We were the Mitchell High School fighting Kernels, not like a military kernel but an actual corncob – it had a face and it was always winking. Our hometown’s pride is a place called the world’s only corn palace, it’s a building where the walls are covered in corn murals. It’s a great town.
GCGMU: What made you decide to run for Mason majesty?
KL: I ran to represent Catholic Campus Ministry, which is a group I’m pretty involved in. They’ve had 3 Mason Majesty winners and they wanted a 4th one out there so basically I ran for the greater glory of God.
It was fun to be back on stage, because that’s what I did a lot of in high school. I got to learn how to rap for it. I also wanted to do something outside of my comfort zone at Mason. I’ve done a lot of stuff that isn’t really out in the open. I’ve done stuff with journalism, research projects and the honor’s college, but not a lot of things where I’m just out there. It was nice to be on a stage and just be a goofball. It was also really great that the theme was Disney.
HCGMU: What organizations are you officially involved in?
KL: I run Connect2Mason. I’ve been involved with that since my sophomore year. I worked for the student newspaper my freshmen year. I’m most involved with Catholic Campus Ministry. I lead the communication team there. I also lead a bible study and help with the masses. I used to run a juvenile center outreach. We used to hang out with some of the kids in the juvenile detention center once a month. Now, it’s mainly student media and CCM.
HCGMU: What are some of the responsibilities that come with running Connect2Mason?
KL: I’m responsible for what the site looks like, plans for the future, web design, how employees get paid, how we make money, how authoritative we are on getting things accurate, and how people figure out how to cover stories.
The problem with a lot of student organizations is that leadership changes really quickly. The site is always improving. It’s gone from a one-man blog to a great team. My goal for the year is to get everything in place for when I graduate.
We recently won an award from The Associated Collegiate Press. They have awards called the online Pacemaker awards. We were the only one in the, “online only” category to get the online Pacemaker award distinction for 2011.
HCGMU: How has being involved in CCM changed your collegiate experience?
KL: It gives things a kind of purpose. It’s the glue that holds everything together. I wouldn’t have done Mason Majesty if I didn’t have an organization to represent. It’s nice to have an extended family at Mason. It’s a great place to get to know people and develop friendships with people that have the same viewpoint, and have some sort of shared goal for life. I do not know what my collegiate experience would be without it. We have an event called, “Thursday night supper,” and it’s just really nice to have a home cooked meal once a week with friends. It’s been great.
GCGMU: What do you plan on doing when you graduate?
KL: I’m applying for different jobs in journalism. My long-term goal is that I want to teach. I’d like to be a professor and teach and get up in the morning and get the kids ready for school and then come home and be a dad and a husband.
I have some good connections and I think one of those is likely to work out. I’d like to do something a little more 9-to-5 to take a break from how hectic everything is right now.
I’m currently doing a research project about the role of instant communication in relationships. I’m interested in how the development of who we actually get to know is influenced by who Facebook thinks we should know. I question if it’s healthy and having that influence. Facebook is catering the development of relationships with an algorithm, which claims to know you better you know yourself, or claims to know you. It’s an interesting topic I’m spending more time with.
HCGMU: How do you handle being so connected?
KL: I’m actually going on a retreat this weekend with CCM. With no phone. It’s a weekend for reflection and prayer. It’s been nice to have those sorts of experiences.
**Photo Credits Connect2Mason Facebook Page