Senior Will Bieker’s posters grab attention

Greta Rainbow, Staff Reporter
Originally published October 7, 2014

Last Tuesday morning, students rushing to 1st period stopped for a moment when they noticed one of the 300 posters of senior Will Bieker’s face. Their attention may have been for his comedic poses, or because this was the first campaign for Homecoming King they had seen.

Seniors Molly Wood-Dorner, Kimi Rutledge, and Tor Randolph acted as managers of the unofficial campaign, which ultimately ended in a loss. Their comedic posters included slogans such as “Will will instill the thrill” and “Do you have the Will to vote Bieker?” Wood-Dorner originally nominated Bieker for Homecoming Court as a joke, but the idea grew more serious as the week went on.

With his face plastered on the walls, Bieker gained some notoriety. “I got someone in the halls who just screamed at me, they were just like ‘Who are you?’,” Bieker said.

During the Homecoming spirit assembly, senior Jake Cameron was crowned. According to senior ASB Treasurer Chris McKinley, Bieker won the vote of the student body. However, this is only 50 percent of the point system created by ASB to determine Homecoming Court winners; the other half is determined by level of school spirit and participation in break competitions.

Will Bieker

“Jake Cameron came out with the most points. Will Bieker did not participate on Clone Day I believe,” McKinley said. “So I think that’s what really got him. Other than that, I think he would have won.”

“The posters were funny but I think Jake participated dressing up more,” senior and Homecoming Queen Olivia Oplinger said. “I think if there was no competition it would be boring.”

Bieker was disappointed with the loss, as were other students. “It was a pretty big upset… even inside ASB we were a little heartbroken,” McKinley said.

Some feel that Bieker, highly involved in the music program, represented a population underrepresented in the sector of student government and school spirit. “We just thought it’d be really cool if we could get somebody [to win Homecoming King] that’s not super popular, not somebody that everybody knows,” Wood-Dorner said.

A recurring student complaint is that many ballots did not reach the students, limiting the democratic nature of the election.

Bieker contemplated continuing the humor if he won. “We had a plan to put posters up everywhere that had 10 laws and it was gonna be ‘Bieker Law,’” Bieker said.