First, let’s recap the insanity that was the 2017 Student Council President election this year:
The Cavalier Daily’s implicit portrayal and many others’ open narrative went something like this: Kelsey Kilgore, a rich, privileged, daddy-funded, oblivious, mini Tomi Lahren, Tri Delt and former athlete, attempted to take on the Student Council, University Democrats and anti-Greek conglomerate favorite, Sarah Kenny, by buying votes with pizza and Red Bull.
She wouldn’t have won regardless of how many coffees she bought, but just to be sure:
In their initial profile, The Cavalier Daily conveniently left out the fact Kilgore was also a Batten student and a fellow of the Meriwether Lewis Leadership Institute at the University, preferring her more superficial and less intellectual identities. In all the subsequent articles I saw, they also never mentioned the fact that Kenny is a sister of the Alpha Phi sorority and thus also involved in greek life. This may not seem significant but it was part of a larger underlying message that Kilgore was the rich inexperienced bimbo who wanted to buy her position, in contrast to Kenny, the humble long-term public servant, champion of all.
Then the Minority Rights Coalition decided to hold a town hall for students to ask questions of the two candidates, despite the fact that they had already endorsed Kenny, which they excused by their use of an ‘independent and unbiased’ moderator. Somehow, according to Kilgore’s campaign, both candidates were supposed to receive their questions 48 hours in advance and although they only had to send said questions to two people, Kilgore did not receive said questions until later. In their recap of the event on their Facebook page, the MRC reiterated their endorsement of Kenny once again, sure to reach anyone who many have still been undecided who wanted to watch the stream of the event.
Oh, and let’s not forget that an anonymous letter began to circulate all over Grounds from “Concerned Students at U.Va.” which stated Kilgore’s candidacy was “detrimental to the rights of minority students” and “threatens progress,” with no support other than her apparent private preference for President Donald Trump.
Finally, on the day or so before the campaign, The Cavalier Daily posted a cartoon that made Kilgore look like a gremlin, wearing her sorority shirt and perched on a soccer ball and bags of money. Next to her was Kenny (who, I should note, also looked pretty bad — though not nearly as bad as Kilgore — because the drawing itself was simply not well done) who only had her actual experience to prop her up.
This year’s race was unprecedentedly nasty for what is ultimately such an inconsequential position. Before the backlash comes in, I challenge the reader to name this past year’s Student Council President, and, if they can, to name one positive or negative policy she put into place that was unique to her individual leadership.
If you read the Facebook commentary and hysteria surrounding Kilgore’s candidacy like the anonymous letter, you’d think we were voting on the President of the United States, not who presides over important discussions like the ACC recycling and composting challenge and whether the chairs should be in a circle when the meetings get too crowded (as per the public Student Council minutes from Feb. 21).
Don’t get me wrong: Kenny was the more qualified candidate and had better ideas, and that was clear at the Town Hall. The amount of Kilgore’s expenditures on her campaign was questionable. Kenny certainly deserved to win, but her victory was more of a reward for her dedication and hard work via a semblance of power and an added paragraph to her resume than reflective of the false perception that the University would really be any different under her leadership than Kilgore’s.
I understand that especially after the 2016 elections, where real issues were at stake, people want to engage in some grassroots activism and fight for the things important to them.
This wasn’t the place to do it. Sure, all University students should be encouraged to vote in the student elections and to speak to our representatives. But what was so unnecessary and what made this race so absurd was that a large fraction of the student body chose Kilgore as a surrogate for their anger and frustrations towards Trump and the results of the 2016 election.
So congratulations to all those who campaigned so viciously against Kilgore. You pegged one of your fellow students as a racist at worst and oblivious to the concerns of minorities at best. She lost, badly, with Kenny receiving almost five times as many votes as her. You did it! You saved the University.
But this wasn’t a victory on your part. The only way Kenny would have lost to Kilgore would be if she proposed tearing down the Rotunda to make access to the Corner easier or abolishing “Pint Night” at Mellow Mushroom to promote studying on Tuesdays. If anything, the negative publicity against Kilgore gave her more name recognition, more sympathy and more votes.
This should go without saying, but let’s put it out there anyway: Kilgore isn’t Trump. You thought you slayed Goliath, but in reality, he beat the crap out of you and you decided to make yourself feel better by kicking his puppy. Hopefully we learn to pick better battles by 2020.
Ali Hiestand is a third-year College student and chair of the College Republicans.
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