Students Unite suspended from campaigning

The Student Government Association Election Commission suspended the Students Unite party from election campaigning last Wednesday.

Students Unite, led by presidential candidate Darren Beckham, was found guilty of being endorsed at the Contemporary Arts Society’s Project Run-A-Way event that took place Friday, April 12. Because this event was funded using approximately $10,000 from the large events fund allocation from student fees, this violated the SGA Journal rules.

Section 16.2 of the Journal says, “Monies allocated from student fees shall not, in any way, be used to promote the campaign of any individual or party.”

The SURV (Shockers Uniting Reality & Vision) party submitted the complaint via email during Wednesday’s Senate meeting, just before the Election Commission meeting.

Students Unite was required to make a formal apology on all social networks by 5 p.m. Thursday and remove any physical campaigning materials including signs and flyers by 5 p.m. Friday. 

The Election Commission confirmed that Students Unite complied with these rules.

Although no Students Unite members spoke, current SGA senator Diana Carbajal, who was part of the event’s staff, endorsed them during the event. Carbajal has expressed support for Students Unite but has no official tie to the party.

Carbajal said at the event that Students Unite would continue to support the arts and events like Project Run-A-Way, even though Beckham said they never made these statements to her.

Students Unite vice presidential candidate Brianna Kitchings said, “I think (Carbajal) made some decisions that affected our campaign without consulting us, and I know that upset me greatly.”

Students Unite said that although they knew they would be endorsed, they did not ask Carbajal to speak nor discussed what she would say. 

“What happened that night has jeopardized our campaign,” Beckham said.

Beckham also said that he was led to believe that because his party was not who gave the endorsement, the Election Commission could not act upon it.

“I understand the gravity of it, but I just didn’t think it was going to work out this way,” Beckham said. “My preparation was minimal.”

Beckham was also under the assumption that members of the other party attempted to seek an endorsement at the event, but Sean McLemore, presidential candidate for SURV, said, “absolutely not.”

Chief Election Commissioner Olivia Sullivan made it clear that she believes the endorsement is a serious infraction.

“I think this is by far the most serious infraction that we have heard,” Sullivan said. “In my mind, this is a clear violation.”

Sullivan explained that using Association funds for endorsements is using money from all students who pay into student fees, even students who support the other party. 

Sullivan also explained that she pays into student fees and, therefore, helped fund the event in question. She said that because of her position as Chief Election Commissioner, she “can’t be seen endorsing one party.”

Carbajal, who was found guilty of giving the endorsement, admitted that she spoke solely about the Students Unite party, but felt that the money was only used for the event, which lasted “a little over four hours.”

“Ten seconds of promoting a political party does not entitle that that money was used to promote his campaign,” Carbajal said. “Even though I grabbed a microphone and promoted, the show had a completely different purpose.”

Carbajal said any organization has the right to endorse a campaign or party. Contemporary Arts Society chose to officially endorse Students Unite.

She also admitted that she should have done more research with the SGA Journal.

“In the Senate, Darren’s always one to follow every rule,” Carbajal said. “I figured that he felt comfortable, and I trust Darren.”

Beckham and the rest of Students Unite will be allowed to continue their campaign on Wednesday, the first day of voting.

Carbajal will be submitted to the Senate Review Board for further investigation on the issue and to find out if any action should be taken against her.

Four other complaints were heard at the Commission meeting, two aimed at SURV for social media violations that occurred before campaigning began and two aimed at Students Unite for a misplaced campaign sign and an unauthorized speech.

Although there were some minor penalties that occurred because of these smaller infractions, none were seen as serious by the Commission.