Last night, the executive board of Student Council, under the signature of President Micah Schwartz, sent an e-mail to Elections Committee Chair Julie Teater recommending that the Coalition and the First Year Council be prohibited from endorsing candidates for the upcoming University elections.
The e-mail, a copy of which was obtained by The Cavalier Daily, claimed that the endorsements should be nullified because neither group is a Contracted Independent Organization.
The Coalition consists of the five major minority advocacy groups at the University -- The Black Student Alliance, the Asian Student Union, the Latino Student Union, the Queer Student Union and the National Organization for Women.
The recommendation represented the opinion of Council's executive board, but the final decision on the ability of the Coalition and FYC to endorse candidates lies with Teater, who made her ruling this morning at 1:45 a.m.
"Council sent me their opinion on the matter and said 'this is your decision to make,'" Teater said.
"Non-CIO's can endorse -- the Coalition and Greek Councils," she said, explaining her decision not to follow Council's recommendation. "First Year Council will be advised that, while we're not telling them not to endorse, they are advised to check with the dean of students over whether they should be legally endorsing."
The recommendation made several references to second-year College student Daisy Lundy, who is running for Council president.
"Daisy and any other Coalition-endorsed candidates needs [sic] to be informed that if the LSU campaigns on their [sic] behalf -- and with their[sic] consent -- than [sic] they will be punished."
The Fall 2002 Elections Rules and Regulations dictate that punishments "may include, but are not limited to, warning, fines and disqualification from the election."
In other words, an individual candidate can be punished for accepting help from a group that is not authorized to endorse candidates, but Council does not have direct control over a CIO or non-CIO.
"A group can by any conception of the first amendment do whatever they want," Schwartz said. "We wrote into our [election] rules that a CIO can do endorsements if it follows these procedures and interviews each candidate for the position. Can we enforce this? No."
Although the elections committee oversees the logistics of informing all candidates when endorsements are to be held, they have no power of enforcement over CIOs and other organizations.
The Coalition's endorsement also was called into question because the Latino Student Union, one of the five governing councils of the Coalition, was not present during the group's endorsement interviews.
Teater said the matter initially was brought to her attention at last night's Council meeting by a candidate for the Council presidency who asked if the Coalition could endorse because it is not a CIO. This event prompted both Council's recommendation and a response from various other individuals and groups once they received word of the executive board's recommendations.
"This is the executive board's attempt to ruin my campaign ... it's a low blow," Lundy said.
Lundy gained access to the executive board e-mail soon after it was sent. She expressed concern over particular language in the document.
The recommendations specifically mention that Lundy was endorsed by the two groups in question.
"The two groups we are attempting to silence happen to be two of the three groups that endorsed Daisy," the e-mail said. "Daisy will claim that this is Council's attempt to ensure that she will not win. This is not true, but we should all prepare for that accusation."
Schwartz defended the language of the recommendation, specifically the fact that Lundy's name was mentioned seven times.
"The election we're talking about is for president and the organization whose endorsement is in question is the First Year Council and the Coalition who endorsed Daisy," Schwarz said.
Lundy alleges that Schwartz personally asked her not to run for Council president.
"Micah has already said to me he doesn't want me to run," Lundy said.
Schwartz did not directly confirm this statement.
"I have in conversations prior to the election told individuals who I think is the best candidate," Schwartz said. He said "individuals" include Council presidential candidates and others.
In an e-mail sent out to the Council presidential candidates Monday at 12:35 a.m. and subsequently obtained by The Cavalier Daily, Schwartz said, "Based on these characteristics, at this point in the campaign, I think Ed [Hallen] is the best candidate."
At 12:45 a.m. this morning, Lundy voluntarily renounced the Coalition and FYC endorsements.
"I've decided to drop the two endorsements being questioned right now," Lundy said. "I could appeal the decision, but I want to keep it a clean race and continue on with the U-Dems' endorsement."
It remains to be seen how First Year Council and the Coalition will respond with their endorsements.
"I haven't heard anything about it," First Year Council President Noah Sullivan said early this morning, at 2:15 a.m. "As far as I know, First Year Council can endorse candidates. We did it last semester and the rules haven't changed since then."
Read More
Students have federal internship offers rescinded due to hiring freeze
By Nina Broderick | 2 days agoUntil July 15, no presently vacant federal civilian positions may be filled, and no new positions may be created.
Man dies from self-inflicted gunshot wounds at the Rotunda
By Ford McCracken | 2 days agoThe investigation is ongoing, and additional details are not available at this time.
Virginia primary elections feature contested race for Democratic Lt. Gov. candidate
By Nicolas Biernacki | 2 days agoEligible voters can find more information about early voting by consulting the City Department of Voter Registration & Elections website or the County Department of Elections website.
