Will Alvira Khan become the first FAU student body president to run for re-election in at least a decade? Khan has told different people she is, she might be and she isn’t. But one thing is known for sure: She’s violated election rules along the way.
On Friday, Feb. 18, Terry Mena – FAU’s Associate Director of Student Development and Activities – spoke sternly to the University Wide Council, chaired by Khan and consisting of SG’s top leaders. Mena said he was speaking on behalf FAU’s Student Affairs, which oversees SG, and he admonished the UWC for dragging its feet on starting the election season.
FAU students are supposed to vote for student body president and a host of other positions on April 5-6. But according to SG’s own rules, the campaign season was supposed to have started already. Khan’s political opponents accuse her of purposefully stalling so that any opposing candidates won’t have time to campaign.
Student Affairs isn’t going that far, but Mena said the department had several specific concerns. Among them:- Khan’s administration, which is required by SG rules to choose an elections supervisor and get UWC approval by Oct. 15, didn’t do so until Jan. 14 – three months late. – Before that, Khan didn’t advertise the supervisor position on all seven FAU campuses, possibly limiting the number of candidates for the job.- Khan didn’t select a runner-up in case the commissioner couldn’t serve – which is exactly what seems to have happened. Khan selected Ankit Jain as elections supervisor, and the UWC confirmed him on Jan. 14. But Jain has not posted or kept any office hours, and he doesn’t answer his new SG cell phone. In fact, that number has a voice message that says, “This is Gary. This isn’t my cell phone number anymore.”
After Mena spoke for 10 minutes, the UWC members thanked him. They asked no questions and did not make any statements about these violations.
So what happens now?
“I imagine that they will take action to get things approved as soon as possible,” says Lisa Bardill, associate dean of Student Affairs and SG’s adviser.
If they don’t do either, Bardill says, the matter will be referred to SG’s chief justice. The problem is, Student Affairs is accusing that person, Max Leynov, of violating SG rules, too. Leynov is required to show up at UWC meetings and make sure its members don’t break any SG rules, including those listed above. But as Mena pointed out as he looked around the room, “He isn’t here today.” Leynov has missed many such meetings.
If Khan does run for re-election, some SG candidates believe that these election delays will only help her campaign.
One of those candidates is Gary Goldberg – the same “Gary” who is on Jain’s outgoing voice message. Goldberg resigned as a UWC member in October, and Jain inherited that SG cell phone. Goldberg told the UP that he’s running for Governor of the Boca Raton campus, a position currently held by Dan Wilson, who ran on the same ticket as Khan last year. In fact, Goldberg also ran on Khan’s ticket, but he resigned because, “I didn’t like the way she ran things.”
Now, Goldberg says, “I have to know the [election] procedures so I can begin planning my campaign.”
Goldberg can’t say for sure if Khan and her supporters broke SG election rules accidentally or on purpose. But he definitely has an opinion: “From my past experience with this administration, my thoughts would be that it’s basically a political maneuver.”
SG’s Community Relations Director Mike D’Eugenio, who’s rumored to be running in the upcoming election, agreed somewhat with Goldberg: “I definitely think its possible.” As of last Friday, D’Eugenio wouldn’t confirm that he’s running for office. “I haven’t made my decision,” he said.
Has Khan made her decision? “She told me that she was not running,” Bardill says. “That was two weeks ago.”
But Khan was less definite in a conversation with D’Eugenio, who says, “She’s told me that she wasn’t sure, and that she didn’t see anyone else that’s qualified to run for student body president.”
When the UP asked Khan directly, she first said, “I’m not running.” Then she said, “I’ve heard rumors that I’m running then others that I’m not running. Oh, don’t write that. That’s off the record. ‘No comment,’ write that.” Then she changed her mind again, saying she needed help with the phrasing of her statement. Khan left her office and said she’d be right back. A minute later, she returned and, as she sat once again behind her desk, said, “I’m looking at the horizon,” and giggled.
Khan wasn’t laughing after Mena’s comments. Later that same day, she twice declined to answer UP questions. But long after Mena left, MacArthur Senate Speaker Heather Boyer asked Khan, “What’s going on with this election stuff? Do we have an election supervisor?”
Khan replied, “I’m not going to address them at this time, but I will get with you and address them through email after I get back from Busch Gardens. On Sunday, I will do it. The supervisor of elections will get back to you.”
Neither Khan nor Jain contacted Boyer as of Monday. “She has not contacted me as of 2 p.m. on Monday,” Boyer said, referring to Khan. Khan was scheduled to speak at the MacArthur Senate meeting Monday evening. Boyer told the UP she would ask Khan again about the elections at that meeting, but because of deadline, the UP could not report on what was said.
Other SG officials were equally distressed.
“I don’t know what’s happening with the elections,” Treasure Coast Governor Helen Marshall says. “I just know that something should be happening. This should be moving forward.”
Adds Sofia Barett, the Broward campus senate speaker: “From my understanding, when I asked questions, this is something we should have done earlier. Somehow, the ball was dropped … I am more concerned about what this person [Ankit Jain] has been doing since we appointed him. That’s what I want to know. The Broward campuses haven’t heard anything about elections yet.”
But one former UWC member says Khan isn’t the only one responsible for dropping the ball. Brent Dell, who was student body vice president last year, says, “They’re both at fault. She has to do the interviews and bring them forward to the UWC. If Alvira doesn’t meet deadline, the only recourse is impeachment. [But the UWC] is at fault for not taking action against Khan.”
The election-planning delays are having a ripple effect. For the past 20 years, the League of Women Voters of South Palm Beach County counts the votes to ensure a fair election. While Jain contacted the league and set up a meeting three weeks ago, he cancelled on the day of that meeting. League President Sally Robinson says she hasn’t heard from Jain or anyone in SG since, despite her attempts to email and call Jain.
The UP has no luck reaching Jain, either, despite a week of efforts, including repeated stops by his office.
While FAU administrators are unhappy with the delays – whether intentional or not – they say there’s not much they can do about them.
“It’s not our job to sanction SG, but to make sure they follow their guidelines,” said Student Affairs Dean Leslie Bates. “It would be up to SG to respond to it. They have, in writing, ways to deal with people or departments that don’t follow their guidelines.”
Bates is referring to the SG’s Constitution and its statutes, which describe how students can file a petition with SG’s version of the Supreme Court. But there’s a problem: There is no Student Court right now, because not enough students have volunteered to serve on it, and Khan’s administration hasn’t actively recruited for it. As a result, SG’s rules state that the UWC sits as the Student Court – and Khan and her supporters lead the UWC.
Thus, if Khan and her supporters are purposefully delaying the upcoming elections, she will essentially decide how to punish herself – possibly as she wins re-election against candidates who will get a late start organizing their campaigns.
That Catch-22 isn’t lost on some outsiders. “Where’s your administration on all this?” asks Larry Spalding, the legislative counsel for the ACLU of Florida. “Although it’s not their job to run stuff, it’s still taking place on campus. There’s an obligation to make sure things are done legitimately, honestly, openly and have people act responsibly.”
