Syracuse University’s Student Association is investigating a presidential candidate’s potential violation of its bylaws.

SA’s Board of Elections and Membership Chair David Bruen presented an investigation report on Justine Hastings and Ryan Golden’s presidential campaign at Monday night’s Assembly meeting. The report alleges the campaign violated a bylaw prohibiting the use of academic listservs for campaign purposes.

Hastings sent an email containing a campaign flyer to Huey Hsiao, associate director for the Office of Multicultural Affairs, who then forwarded the email to the WellsLink Scholar listservs on March 3, according to the report.

After speaking to Hastings, Golden and Hsiao, Bruen closed the investigation and passed it on to SA’s Judicial Review Board for a verdict and recommendation, Bruen said. The review board hearing will take place Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in the SA office, he said.

“The judicial review board will compile a report with a recommendation and a verdict,” Bruen said. “They’ll say whether they found the allegation to be legitimate and what my decision should be moving forward.”

An anonymous student informed Bruen of the alleged violation, he said.

“I would like to defend this ‘infraction’ as it is unfair to even call it that,” Hastings said in a statement to The Daily Orange.

The bylaw in question only applies during the voting period of a campus-wide election, according to SA’s bylaws. But the voting period for this year’s SA elections has not yet begun. The voting period begins every year on the second Monday of April, according to the bylaws.

The WellsLink listserv is also part of the Office of Multicultural Affairs, and is not an academic listserv as SA policy specifies, Hastings said.

“The bylaws should have been more clear about what constitutes as an ‘academic listserv,’” Hastings said. “It is genuinely not my fault that the document was unclear.”

Hasting’s campaign for SA president is also her first time being involved in SA, she said. If she did violate the bylaw, it was a “genuine beginner’s mistake,” she said.

After Tuesday’s hearing, the BEM chair ultimately makes the final decision on what, if any, punishment will be imposed, Bruen said.

Other Business:

The Assembly passed a letter supporting the University Senate’s proposal for a revised first year experience requirement. SA will forward the letter to every school and college’s curriculum committee, said Sameeha Saied, SA vice president.

SEM 100, a mandatory diversity course for freshmen and transfer students, is currently a five-week class that does not count for academic credit. Students have said the current program is ineffective in addressing diversity and inclusion issues at SU.

The reformed SEM 100 would be a semester-long one-credit class that would pair with a separate three-credit diversity and inclusion course requirement.

Registered Student Organization budgets are also due on Friday March 13 by 5 p.m., said Stacy Omosa, SA comptroller.

Published on March 9, 2020 at 11:57 pm

Contact Mira: mlberenb@syr.edu