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The city of Oxford hosted its annual Student Government Day on Wednesday, April 23, 2025.

Originating in 1955, the day allows Oxford High School students to have a hands-on experience with city government – from standing for election to office by their classmates to standing beside those members of the city staff currently holding the positions to which they were elected and learning how those officers operate on a day-to-day basis.

The positions included the elected officials of the offices of mayor and city council, and staff members including police and fire chiefs, paramedics, first responders, marketing director, judge, and jurors.

Mayor Alton Craft gave the official welcome to the more than 50 students who participated.

“We appreciate you deciding to be a part of Student Government Day,” Craft said. “Every one of our city council members was once part of Student Government Day. We have an exciting day planned for you, and if there is anything we can do for you – even after today – please feel free to come here and talk to us.”

The students were divided into two groups, each having their day split with a tour of the East Area Metro Crime Center and shadowing the city officers and staff members, learning what is involved in doing their jobs.

Some of the experiences shared by the students included riding a fire truck, hitting some golf balls at Cedar Ridge Golf Club, exploring the OPD Aviation Unit, and discovering EMACC officers can enter a license plate and see where that vehicle had been during the day.

After a mentoring session led by Council President Chris Spurlin, the student council members held a council meeting where they passed resolutions calling for the creation of a fine arts center for Oxford High School, the construction and operation of a free health care clinic, and the expansion of the Areawide Community Transportation System to the east (Coldwater) and west (Dearmanville) areas of Oxford along with the purchase of two additional buses for the system.

“I found these students came in and had given serious thought to these subjects,” Spurlin said. 

In a twist on normal council meetings, it was Mayor Craft accepting a proclamation by student Mayor Noah Paredes declaring the day as “Oxford Student Government Day.”

Once the council adjourned, attention turned to the high school, where the student police officers - dressed for the occasion with suits and sunglasses – entered OHS and arrested basketball coach Mike Romano and track/field coach Landon Delozier, whose identities had been a closely held secret.

The two “suspects” were handcuffed and placed into OPD vehicles for transport to the Municipal Court, where they entered the courtroom in orange jumpsuits to face a judge, attorneys, and jurors prepared to give them a trial – not a fair one, but an entertaining one full of laughs, good humor, and even an escape attempt.

Once the “guilty” verdict was announced, the students were bused to The Studio at the Oxford Performing Arts Center, where they were treated to a fried chicken and barbeque dinner, ending their term as the city’s shadow government and perhaps as those who will one day actually be in those positions of leadership for the city of Oxford.