The student body president elections ended months ago but presidential candidates Christian Ragland and David Adewumi are sparring again — or at least their imposters are.
As University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) president Ragland was declaring “no days off” for his summer campaign earlier this summer, a “fakeUPUAprez” Twitter account appeared in the Twitterverse. Ragland (senior-political science) said he doesn’t know who is behind the made-up account but thinks the tweets are “cool” and “really good humor.”
The fakeDaveAdewumi account appeared last week, and while Adewumi (senior-Spanish) agreed that the accounts are funny, he said they probably “could have come about three or four months ago” and aren’t as relevant anymore.
When Ragland first saw the Twitter account, he said he immediately started guessing which of his friends was the jokester. But he said he still has no idea who fakeUPUAprez really is — though he likes to joke that it’s his vice president, Colleen Smith.
Adewumi has a few guesses, as well, but said he isn’t too concerned with figuring out who the poser is.
“Ninety-nine point nine percent of students aren’t going to come across my normal Twitter account much less my fake Twitter account,” he said.
Though the fake Twitter accounts are clearly sarcastic, Ragland said they do a good job mimicking tweets that sound like something he or Adewumi would say — like inserting Ragland’s “#nodaysoff” hashtag or the “TRL” initials modeled after Adewumi’s housing initiative.
Ragland’s favorite fakeDavidAdewumi tweet is the account’s debut entry: “Months later, I still don’t ask you to believe in the administration, legislation, or even me. I’m asking you to believe in the power of We.”
“I thought maybe he made his own fake Twitter account, because that’s what he would say,” Ragland said, laughing. “I guess we both made it big time — everyone wants to be us.”
Ragland also pointed out that those following his real Twitter account will pick up on his passion for the Lakers, and the profile picture for fakeUPUAprez is the Los Angeles Lakers icon.
FakeUPUAprez is following Jesus and Malcolm X along with other UPUA members, Ragland said.
He said the satire keeps him humble and reminds him he’s just a regular student. Adewumi said he doesn’t think he’s influential enough to satire — but nevertheless, he enjoys the humor.
As long as FakeUPUAprez doesn’t disrespect his faith, culture, or people in general, Ragland said he loves the Twitter account.
“A friend joked to me that you know you’ve reached a point where people know you when they start making fake UPUA Twitter accounts,” he said.