The Crimson White’s Courtney Stringer sat down with homecoming candidate Mae Farmer to discuss Farmer’s homecoming platform.  

Courtney Stringer: Please introduce yourself, including year, major, hometown and any other details you want to share about yourself.

Mae Farmer: “My name is Mae Farmer. I am a senior here. I am pursuing dual degrees. So I’m getting my Bachelor’s of Science in accounting and Bachelor of Arts in psychology with a minor in criminal justice on the pre-law track, so a little bit of an interesting path to get there, but I’m very excited about that. I am originally from Fishers, Indiana, although my family now lives in southern Indiana.”

Stringer: Which student organizations and off-campus organizations are you affiliated with, if any? 

Farmer: “So I am involved in a lot of places on campus. I’m probably one of the busiest people my friends know. But I am in Greek life. I work for the Capstone Center for Student Success. I’m part of the Blackburn Institute. I’m also on Student Tide Against Suicide Advisory Board. And then also I work for the Counseling Center kind of as a student assistant separately a little bit but also as hand in hand a little bit there. And then there are a few off campus. I do a lot of work with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. That’s a big org I’ve been involved in since high school and just kind of was able to tie back and keep helping out.”

Stringer: Why did you decide to run for Homecoming queen?

Farmer: “So honestly, I don’t think a lot of people would have expected it from me because I am kind of more reserved, more quiet sometimes, But I really saw the opportunity to push the things that I am passionate about, which is mental health. Push that further and give it more backing and make more people see it and make more people want to talk about it. And so that was kind of my initial goal as soon as I, like, decided to go for it. I was like, I’m going to do everything humanly possible to bring more awareness to the topic.”

Stringer: How have you served students at the Capstone?

Farmer: “Since freshman year, I mean, like I said, I’m super involved on campus. And so the very first year you know, I went through rush and whatnot, but I also like wasn’t just going to join a sorority and not do anything, like it was really important to me to hold a leadership position and uplift, you know, the orgs that I chose to be a part of, and so I did some, you know, chairman positions, like little council positions and stuff like that. And then that, of course, has transitioned into actually working on campus and helping students at CCSS with like the study skills and time management and organization. And then also like, obviously with my work with the Counseling Center is very important and kind of touches all areas of campus.”

Stringer: How would you use the Homecoming queen’s platform?

Farmer: “So I feel, not to sound like a broken record, but I do feel like this kind of ties back into the idea that I just want more people to know that they are supported and there’s resources out there. I think the campus has done a really great job just in my time here, like growing the resources available to students for like well being and health and all those things. And so I think the biggest gap right now is just making sure students are aware of how to access them. And then also that it’s not like really complicated, you don’t have to, you know, be in a crisis necessarily, but it really is okay to reach out and ask for help at the beginning. And I think, you know, people look at homecoming queen and they think, you know, her life must be perfect or whatnot. But like, the reality is everyone struggles in one way or another. And so it’s important to kind of have that genuine connection with individuals and show, like, it’s not all about, you know, what you see on the outside.” 

Stringer: Why are you the best choice for Homecoming queen?

Farmer: “I do not like to answer questions like that just because I think, you know, it’s easy as a society to kind of get trapped in like comparison, and you know, putting other people down and all of those things. Really, when I read that question, I was basically thinking, you know, you’re not necessarily voting for me. Well, of course, I want people to like me. I think, you know, what you’re voting for is the platform and what you’re voting for is, you know, is to say that you care about mental health and that’s something that is important on our campus.”