“Revive the Roar” consists of presidential candidate Kayla Modacure and vice presidential candidate Olivia Prudhomme.
Missouri Students Association slate “Revive The Roar,” featuring presidential candidate Kayla Modacure, sophomore, and vice presidential candidate Olivia Prudhomme, junior, have announced their candidacy in the upcoming MSA elections.
They are running on a platform that focuses on what Modacure termed “the four Vs” — valor, vitality, vibrancy and veracity. Modacure said that those Vs represent the slate’s intentions to bolster MU students’ awareness, engagement, well-being, unity and academic integrity.
Presidential and vice presidential candidates Kayla Modacure and Olivia Prudhomme pose on Feb. 20, 2024 at Cornell Hall in Columbia, Mo. Modacure sees her past MSA executive experience as beneficial to her campaign. “I was able to see a lot of the behind the scenes of what was happening. I think when you have more information you’re able to form more of an opinion of what’s going on. So you understand the trial and error, you understand the turbulence that goes on behind it.”
Before the start of the Revive the Roar campaign, Modacure worked under the current President Miyah Jones and Vice President Cydney Perkins as the executive cabinet’s Assessment Specialist.
“It’s historic what they did being the first two Black women,” Modacure said. “So I think that’s something that really made numbers and headlines and inspired me.”
Both Modacure and Prudhomme have also been involved in both the Trulaske Student Council and The Vasey Academy, both organizations aim to improve the opportunities of MU’s business students.
Modacure said the slogan “Revive the Roar” is meant to be a call to action indicative of her and Prudhomme’s platform. It is set to emphasize unity and the visibility of MSA on campus.
“I think (there is) the intersectionality of who we are as Black women.” Modacure said. “I think sometimes people assume that that’s the only thing we kind of run off of. I want people to know that we really are for all students on campus. We’re all one school and we all love the school so much. We want all students to feel like they’re included. We want all students to feel like they have a voice and what we’re doing,”
Both Modacure and Prudhomme both said that their upbringings contributed to their interest in vying for a position to make change.
Modacure grew up on the south side of Chicago but attended school on the north side. Through this, she said she was able to recognize the contrast between both sides of the city as a result of racially motivated redlining, which began in the 20th century.
“That difference first shocked me, but then the more you learn about our country, the more we learn about the city, I think it kind of shaped me into the person I am today,” Modacure said. “Which is why I want to do more with social justice and why I want to do more with reforming the things around me so it’s more inclusive for everyone.”
In high school, Modacure was on the team that created “It Wasn’t Me: Innocent and Imprisoned,” a documentary that highlights the effects of wrongful conviction and subsequent exoneration of individuals in the US.
“What I really like is that it went beyond race,” Modacure said. “It went beyond the sadly stereotypical people of color getting convicted. It was white women, it was Black men, it was white men, it was Hispanic men and I really enjoyed that aspect of it.”
Modacure has also volunteered at Centers for New Horizons, a non-profit based in south Chicago that focuses on community building and giving assistance to families to achieve self-reliance.
In her free time, Modacure said she likes to play the piano, play The New York Times games, volunteer at a local food bank, walk trails with friends and explore Columbia.
“You have to find the beauty in the things around you and I think [Columbia] is really nice,” Modacure said.
Prudhomme lived in several places before entering college. She said the one thing that stayed constant was that every area she lived in was predominantly white.
“Being placed in honors classes, I frequently found myself as the only Black student,” Prudhomme said. “This experience led me to question why there wasn’t more diversity in these academic settings. Through my studies, particularly in sociology…it expanded my understanding that the issue has never been a lack of intelligence among Black students, but rather a systemic lack of resources and racial disparities.”
Prudhomme said she wants to provide resources and opportunities to make academic success more equitable for underrepresented groups.
In her free time, Prudhomme said she enjoys spending time with friends, trying new cooking recipes and volunteering at the Central Missouri Humane Society.
Additionally, on top of being a golfer herself, Prudhomme volunteered with an organization called Golf For Life, where she was able to give free golf lessons to children who could not afford them otherwise.
“We were giving them free lessons to come every Saturday and participate in the fundamentals of golf, the etiquette of golf, and just someone to look up to, as well, that looks like them,” Prudhomme said.
Revive the Roar is one of two slates campaigning for the upcoming MSA elections. They will debate the other slate, All in 4 Mizzou, on March 4.
Revive the Roar is giving updates and campaigning via their Instagram, @revivetheroar.
Edited by Genevieve Smith | gsmith@themaneater.com
Edited by Sam Barrett | sbarrett@ahenshaw
Copy edited by Sterling Sewell | ssewell@themaneater.com
Edited by Sophie Rentschler | srentschler@themaneater.com