 "Photo: Liz Dzuro")
 "Photo: Liz Dzuro")
At the start of last week, Boca Governor Tiffany Weimar was guaranteed to become the next student body president — she was the only candidate.
Not anymore. Now she has a competitor, and she’s happy about it.
“To be honest, either way we were going to campaign to raise awareness,” says Weimar, a graduate student. “And I don’t exactly think it’s a bad thing. Competition is healthy, and with it you really get to see everyone’s true colors.”
Though the election isn’t until Feb. 24, and Weimar was supposed to have two opponents, both were disqualified by the university administrators in Student Affairs, who oversee all Student Government leadership.
The election is mostly student-managed, although Student Affairs handles one part: eligibility decisions, which include checking academic standing. And SG Adviser Rivka Felsher says they messed that part up.
“Well, the issue is [that] in general, leadership positions have to have a 2.25 GPA, but for some of the senior executives, it’s a 2.5. Now, Student Affairs intends that to be a 2.5 cumulatively and in your last semester. The constitution, obviously, says only the cumulatively requirement,” says Felsher.
Of course, they didn’t realize that right away. Neither did the candidates who were disqualified.
“I didn’t know they were wrong at first,” says Boca House Representative Chuck Forbes, a sophomore running for president. “I talked to Rivka [Felsher], and we looked into the reasons why. My running mate and I looked over the constitution and decided to submit a petition and make our case.”
The petition, administrators admit, was “on point.”
“They came with a very sound appeal. It was something that was pretty clear in the constitution,” says Terry Mena, the associate dean of students.
What’s not clear, according to former elections chair Jared Stark, is why the rules are spread across three different documents: the elections statutes, the SG constitution, and university regulation about student leadership. He calls them “a pretty terrible hodgepodge of rules.”
Stark resigned at the end of last semester but helped plan for this election before he left.
“Well, I can say unequivocally that our statutes and our constitution are, for lack of a better term, a big mess,” says Stark. “Beyond being all over the place, they are often incongruous, and they just don’t make sense.”
In November, Stark gave more than a month’s notice about his resignation but stayed on to help plan the election until Christmas because he felt guilty for creating a “tough transition.”
“I wanted to make the transition smooth, and I was willing to help with hiring or consulting or training the person,” says Stark, “but I was never asked to help.”
Current Student Body President Abe Cohen didn’t hire a replacement until Jan. 16, when the election cycle had already begun.
“We kept the position open to get a bigger pool of candidates and ended up with more than a dozen,” says Cohen.
While Stark calls the rules mix-up “a bit of a quagmire,” the presidential candidate who lost four days of campaign time wasn’t upset.
“We were jumping for joy when they said we were eligible,” says Forbes. “We knew we were losing campaign time. That’s the cards we got dealt, and we said if they started campaigning right away, we would have to work that much harder if they said we were eligible.”
As to whether the rules are a problem, he doesn’t think so — even though he’s the one who was affected by them.
“I don’t think they’re confusing. They’re pretty cut and dry,” says Forbes. “Student Affairs said they would like to have the 2.5 requirement, but that was never enacted or changed in the constitution. That’s what was confusing.”
Student Affairs realizes the rules need clarification now, though, and have started working on updating university regulations.
“I have no idea what the results are going to be. It’s going to take another few weeks to come to a group decision on everything, and it has to be approved by [Vice President of Student Affairs] Charles Brown. But it’s in the works,” says Felsher.
Weimar agrees the rules need updating.
“As for the future, I think they need to be more specific, where it’s written,” she says. “Whether it worked for or against us this year, it should be clarified.”
Student Body President and Vice President Tickets:
Name, Primary Campus, Position Running For, Major, Year
Charles Forbes, Boca Raton, President, Multimedia Journalism, SO
Joshua Simmons, Boca Raton, Vice-President, Political Science, JR
Tiffany Weimar, Boca Raton, President, MBA, GR
Collene O’Reilly, Boca Raton, Vice-President, Public Communication, JR
Rules, Rules, Rules
The rules that establish election guidelines are spread across three different documents, with the election statutes themselves having the least information about eligibility. Here are some snippets that talk about GPA requirements or the cross-referencing between documents.
Election Statutes [311.600]
“Candidates will only appear on ballots if they have properly filed all appropriate paperwork by publicized deadlines and have been verified by the Elections Board and SG Advisors and are otherwise eligible to hold the office they seek.”
SG Constitution [Article IV, Section 2A]
“The student must have a minimum cumulative GPA
of 2.5.”
SGConstitution [Article IV, Section 2C]
“Must meet the minimum qualifications for student officers as set forth by University Regulation.”
University Regulation [4.006 (9)(f)]
“To be eligible to hold elected or appointed office in any student organization, a student must meet University standards. These criteria are separate from and in addition to any criteria for office that a student organization may set for itself . . .”
University Regulation [4.006 (9)(f)(3)]
“. . .maintain a 2.25 or higher Grade Point Average each term and cumulatively on all courses attempted at Florida Atlantic University. . .”
Go Vote!
-Cast your ballot any time between midnight on Tuesday, Feb. 24 and 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 26.
-Vote online through MyFAU (myfau.fau.edu) by clicking on the “SGSG Elections” tab or at one of these campus polling locations.
Boca Raton (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.)
-Near Starbucks in the Breezeway
Davie (10 a.m. to 7 p.m.)
-Computer Lounge in the
Student Union
Fort Lauderdale (10 a.m. to 7 p.m.)
-Student Activities Center in the Liberal Arts building
Jupiter (10 a.m. to 7 p.m.)
-SR Atrium
Treasure Coast (10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.)
-Student Services Office, JU 113
8 comments
#2. Clubs (most notably BSU, CSU, and Hillel)
and
#3. Housing (R.A.'s can make or break an election)One final thought. Keep the campaign positive. I remember when one of the last campaigns got negative on a personal level. The party that started / spread false and defamatory allegations ended up bigger losers than they were before the campaign started. Some of the kids had to transfer to the Jupiter branch and attempt to infiltrate SG up there. Sadly (for them), they don't call it the Honors College for nothing (hahaha Peter!). I guess what I am really trying to say is, "Touch gloves, keep it clean, and lets have a good fight."