SBP Candidate Christopher Everett aims to create a more inclusive University environment

Student body president candidate and junior public policy major Christopher Everett said he knows what it’s like to feel unseen and unheard at UNC.

His campaign slogan, “Carolina for Everyone,” is all about creating an inclusive space where all students feel seen, heard and respected in their identities, Everett said. 

“My policy is built on ‘Carolina for Everyone,’ and it's all about advocating for everyone's experience, and even an experience that might not be mine, because that's real leadership,” he said. “In this role, although experience is great and I've worked in the office of student body president before, you have to be able to advocate for an experience that isn't yours.”

During his first year at UNC, Everett was an executive assistant to former Student Body President Reeves Moseley. He currently serves as the Deputy Chief of Staff on the Undergraduate Executive Branch.

In regards to his political goals, Everett said if he can’t advocate for a group on campus in a way that’s effective, he wants to bring them to the table and share the podium.

He also said what makes him different from other candidates are these ongoing conversations with groups on campus. 

He’s spoken with the Residence Hall Association on first floor wheelchair accessible rooms, the Asian American Center in promoting an Asian American studies program and UndocuCarolina to ensure that international and undocumented students have a place at UNC, Everett said.

“I just refuse to be a leader in isolation,” Everett said. “My biggest thing is, we have a chancellor, we have the Board of Trustees, we have the middle ground. Right now, we need a real servant to take the office and to really advocate in a way that hasn't been done before and that means drawing in more voices.”

Everett’s Campaign Manager, junior political science major Everson Moran, said he sees himself in Everett – a highly motivated person that really wants to drive change.

“And that's why I really support this campaign and this candidate, because he comes from a place of true authenticity, where no matter how difficult it is, he's going to step up and show something,” Moran said. “And frankly, at the end of the day, I'm just trying to be like Chris.”

Everett also temporarily served on the Undergraduate Senate before stepping down from the role in his sophomore year. 

During his time off, Everett said he explored new student experiences such as becoming a member of the UNC club gymnastics team. 

“I had to learn that sometimes real servanthood is stepping up and stepping aside, and that's what my experience was for me,” he said. “And so I spent that year of my life just being a student for the first time.” 

Everett said he was only one of three black people in the Undergraduate Senate. 

“What I found was that if you weren’t willing to play advocacy, then there wasn’t a space for you there,” he said.

Everett described himself as a “work in progress,” as he’s still figuring out his identity. At the same time, a lot of the policies at UNC are works in progress as well, he said.

Everett added that he struggled with giving himself grace and prioritizing his well-being, but to be a good leader, you have to give yourself room to be a human as well. 

Junior communications major Kamryn Dixon said one of the main reasons she supports Everett’s campaign is because she sees how giving he is. 

"So that's one of the many reasons that I'm supporting him — how he really is just such an empathetic person," she said. "He's constantly putting himself in the shoes of others. He really wants the best for everyone, no matter your background or experience, or your Carolina experience." 

Outside of UNC, Everett works with Brady, a nonprofit for gun violence prevention. 

He said he hopes to expand his passion in public service and after college plans to pursue nonprofit law.

“Genuinely, I don't know what else I would do with my life if I'm not advocating and serving someone who just isn't myself,” Everett said. “I think that my campaign now represents that it's bigger than me. It's bigger than ‘Carolina for Everyone.’”

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