Meredith Richards and the University Democrats have both offered to reimburse the University for the cost of using the internal messenger mail service to distribute 600 political fundraiser invitations to faculty mailboxes.
Richards is challenging Republican Virgil Goode for Virginia's 5th District Congressional seat.
Dave Sagarin, Richards' campaign spokesman, said Richards thought the invitations would be hand-delivered to faculty mailboxes around Grounds by members of the University Democrats.
"Although the Richards for Congress campaign was under the impression that the invitations would be stuffed in individual mailboxes, they were not, and we are ultimately responsible for actions taken on our behalf," Sagarin said.
According to University Mail Services policy, student groups, known as Contracted Independent Organizations, are permitted to communicate with faculty via messenger mail, provided mail "be related to University business."
After receiving complaints from faculty members about the mailing, Mail Services Manager Jack Parker obtained a copy of the invitation and said it represented an inappropriate use of the system.
But because of the student organization's involvement in the event, both Sagarin and Katie Hamm, vice president of the University Democrats, questioned whether a clear-cut violation occurred.
"Nobody really knows what the limitations are," Sagarin said. "A student group is still allowed to use the system."
Hamm said that although she did not fully understand the policy when the invitations went out, she felt the current policies regarding mail usage are too broad.
"It was the University Democrats that distributed these invitations, and it was not some campaign ploy. The only thing I'd seen is that it is available for CIO use," she said. "After the fact, I heard it was just 'University related business.' I am just going on what Jack Parker told me, but I feel like you could make the argument that it was."
Regardless, she said the University Democrats and the Richards campaign would "pay for any cost incurred."
In addition to a total postage cost, which Parker estimated to be in the neighborhood of $200, the Richards campaign will pay the costs of labor for the pickup, sorting and delivery, which will come to around $50. Parker's estimate would place the total cost somewhere between $250 and $270.
Commending the Richards campaign for their willingness to accept responsibility, University Democrats President Ian Amelkin said the issue had been "resolved nicely."
"At the worst, this could be called a miscommunication," Amelkin said. "Nothing was done in bad faith and no laws were meant to be dodged."
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