Rooted in Pep: Three pep club executive legacies prepare for their position next year after seeing family members in the role

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Junior Maggie Condon anxiously awaited the announcement for the 2024-25 Pep Club Executives. She had a gut feeling that if it was going to be any day it would be on March 21. Maggie looked through her bedroom window and saw the current pep exec’s car outside. She excitedly waited for them to burst into the room playing loud music, announcing her new position.

Then she heard the beep of her alarm. It was just a dream.

Maggie pressed snooze for 10 more minutes of sleep and rolled back over, convinced she didn’t get the position.

Suddenly rave music blasted throughout the room as 10 people filed in — the current pep execs and the rest of her class’s execs for next year.

“I was just so excited because I totally thought I wasn’t gonna get it at that point,” Maggie said. “So it’s the biggest feeling of relief and excitement.”

School spirit has always been a necessity for the Condon family as Maggie’s older sister Celia was as a pep exec two years ago and her cousin Audrey was one last year. Since then, Maggie has dreamed of a future filled with blue-and-white-striped overalls.

Since seeing Celia hold the whiteboard at games freshman year, reading, “Bananas at 4:25” or “Do it at 6:45” and organizing school events like Lancer Day and assemblies, Maggie has wanted to continue the Condon family tradition by becoming a pep exec herself.

“It’s just been a family legacy where for a couple of years there’s always been a Condon in that role,” Maggie said. “And I just felt that it could be so cool to be that person for our grade.”

Celia believes that Maggie will fit the position as she’s outgoing and has a bubbly personality to encourage crowds, but is also mature and able to handle difficult situations.

“I think the world of Maggie, I think she should run for president, she’s the best ever,” Celia said. “I think she is so level-headed, but so good at standing up for herself when she needs to, which is really, really important as a pep exec.”

Next year, Maggie’s personal goal is to make sure everyone at East feels included and to continue the family tradition of intense school spirit through Columbia Blue gear and screaming chants.

“It’s just been a thing, my whole life, my family to rally for the teams that you support,” Maggie said. “I know that I would be good to rally for East and I love to watch all the different stuff whether it’s sports or musicals. I love to go to everything and to be in that as an official role and to help instill that idea in others.”

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When he decided to apply for the pep exec position, junior Cole Chinnock didn’t even know that he was a legacy. His mom Audrey held the position of pep exec her sophomore year in 1987 when there were execs representing each grade.

“I just thought that it was really cool that my mom [and I] both separately [chose to be execs],” Cole said. “She didn’t have any influence on me applying but we both chose to do it just by the nature of our personalities.”

Playing for both varsity baseball and basketball, Cole has a firsthand understanding of the importance of a supportive student section at games. Even before being named pep exec, he tried his best to support the team and get the crowd excited at all games he attended.

“[I have] the ability to get hype and be excited but also tone it down and be able to deal with the other students in the section that may need to be dealt with and the administration who might be on you,” Cole said. “And then also the ability to plan because there’s a lot of behind the scenes that goes into the pep assemblies and Lancer Day and the themes.”

He doesn’t just want to be remembered as the guy on the bench screaming the banana chant at the top of his lungs. Cole wants to be the person that hypes up the crowd for every sporting event. He wants to be the person that inspires the freshman, possibly to apply for exec their senior year.

Audrey is happy to see her son following in her footsteps and believes his personality at the games, much like hers, will be great for the student section.

She remembers going out with her friends who were also execs before events and taking pictures in their exec rugby shirts. She was never afraid to stand up in front of a crowd or encourage classmates to attend games.

Audrey believes that Cole’s involvement in sports and drive to support athletes in sports that he’s not involved in will make him a good exec.

“He really liked so many different sports and I think as a player [and] as somebody who plays basketball and baseball, it really does mean a lot when you have people come to your games,” Audrey said. “He has even said that he plays better when it’s loud and rowdy and kind of crazy.”

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Junior Brady Haughton spent his freshman year showing up early to East events. Tagging along with his older brother Kyler to football and basketball games that year, he learned what it means to be a pep exec over Chick-fil-a sandwiches provided to football players before games in the East cafeteria.

Those games, seeing the behind the scenes of being a pep exec and watching his brother in front of the crowd leading school chants inspired Brady to apply as well. 

“I can always remember [Kyler] was super loud and a little bit obnoxious but it was a good obnoxious,” Brady said.

Much like his brother, Brady can be loud at games but similar to the other execs, is able to tone it down when necessary.

Throughout the application process Brady called on his brother for input, asking about how he responded to questions. Brady emphasized the importance of hyping up a crowd and also talking with the administration if issues arise.

But all that hard work paid off when the current and new pep execs woke him up early one morning in March to let him know he got the position. After being woken up by the current pep execs and junior Porter Stein and getting breakfast at Einstein’s bagels, Brady began to prepare to rally the Lancers during game and pep rallies.

He’s especially looking forward to Lancer Day and the Rockhurst basketball game. He’s ready to give a speech at the bell tower in the Village after the parade on Lancer day and lead the student section during the biggest basketball game of the year — just like Kyler.

“I’d say I’m pretty vocal,” Brady said. “I can be loud and I love being a Lancer and I play football so I know what it’s like to have a big student section there.”