Lone Student Union presidential candidate Brooke Feldman, who has championed substance abuse policy reform on her website BrookeAndMark.com, was featured in multiple pictures in her Facebook.com and Webshots.com photo galleries with open bottles labeled as containing alcohol. The pictures, provided to The Daily Free Press by a concerned student, were recently removed from her account.
Feldman, who turned 20 in March, denied that the bottles in question were open before saying the whole thing was a joke and that no alcohol was actually consumed.
“In any pictures that might or might not have been on Facebook, nothing was opened, nothing was being consumed, so it’s all speculation,” the School of Education sophomore said. “But I’m a regular student. I’m a college student who has made mistakes.”
One photo in the album shows Feldman posing with a friend, each holding two clear bottles. Two of the four bottles show red labels that say “Marty’s Vodka.” Two of the bottles are turned away from the camera, however, the four bottles in the picture are all translucent and appear to be the same size. One of the bottles Feldman is holding, labeled “Marty’s Vodka,” does not have a cap on it and is not entirely full.
In another picture in the album, Feldman appears with another person. Feldman has her mouth on a bottle that has a red label. The angle at which she is holding it shows the letters “KA” on the label. There is no cap on the bottle. The caption of the picture on Webshots.com reads, “I love my jenni AND my booze.”
When told of the photos, Feldman maintained that the bottles were closed and that she had not drank from any of them.
“I am a person entitled to his or her own privacy, and up until the very recent past, I was a private individual, and now I am ready and willing to accept the challenges of life in the public sphere,” she said.
Soren Hessler, a member of the allocations board who regularly attends Union meetings, came across the photos while researching the candidates and provided links to The Daily Free Press..
“I had come across them last Monday,” the University Professors Program sophomore said, “the first day of campaigning for candidates. I went to see who was running and I saw the link for BrookeAndMark.com, and there was a link there that led to Facebook. Then all of this was on Facebook.”
After finding the photos, Hessler said he felt the information was important to the student body.
“I felt like there was information that needed to be brought to light,” he said. “As a concerned student, I wanted certain people to be aware of that. I’m not trying to cause tension. I just wanted students to be aware.”
Hessler said he was more concerned with how he came about finding the photographs of Feldman.
“My concern was not the pictures themselves,” he said, “but the tactfulness, or lack thereof, she exercised in having them linked to her campaign website.”
According to Elections Commission Chairman David Sideman, in order to run in the Union elections, candidates must be in good academic and judicial standing.
Sideman said after reviewing the applications, he gave them to administrators to obtain approval to run.
Feldman said her academic, judicial and financial status has never been in question.
“I am 100 percent in good academic, good financial and good judicial standing with the university,” she said. “I have a very solid reputation in all three areas.”
Vice presidential candidate Tyler Ramaker said while the pictures may make students “identify” with her, he also sees potential problems, specifically in regard to Feldman and her vice-presidential running mate Mark DiCristofaro’s platform on alcohol and substance safety programs at BU.
Ramaker said the pictures might hurt Feldman’s reputation among the student body and administration.
“It’s hard to take someone seriously about student issues and especially an alcohol amnesty policy when there’s pictures suggesting you’re breaking their rules,” the CAS junior said.
Feldman’s alcohol policy includes an “amnesty protocol,” which would allow intoxicated students to seek emergency assistance for themselves of their friends without facing harsh judicial consequences.
“There shouldn’t just be punitive action taken if that is the case,” she said. “I think that we should have more rehabilitative-type services … and be treated in a more adult-like manner.”
Feldman said she wants to institute an educational program that would teach students about substance safety.
It is important to teach students to “make smarter, better decisions for themselves, and if they don’t make the best decision, how they can learn from the consequences of that,” she said.
Regarding the conduct of a Union president, current President Jon Marker said the president should not only be conscious of how actions affect an image but also the members of the student body the president represents.
“You need to be able to justify what you do, not only to yourself, but to the people you represent,” the CAS junior said.
“As president, or as any member of the e-board, your public life is the public’s life,” he continued. “You need to be aware of that and adjust accordingly, so representatives can be the best advocates for BU students to the BU administration and to the city of Boston.”
Feldman said although she is running for Union President, she emphasized that she is not currently in this position.
“My role begins with my inauguration,” she said. “I’m not going to shirk from my experiences of the past. I’ve learned from my mistakes. I know that I will be, if elected, a public figure. And that comes with a ton of responsibility, and past decisions that I’ve made will influence decisions I have in the future.”
Ramaker said while Feldman has not been elected yet, students involved in the Union, Residence Hall Associations or other organizations should also be particularly careful about abiding by BU policy.
“Anyone who’s in an RHA, anyone who’s in a Consortia Government, anyone who’s in a College Government, I think should abide by BU policy,” he said. “But in reality, I know that everyone isn’t going to. But I think that they should be careful in not advertising it for anyone to see. I think that’s irresponsible.”
Ramaker expressed concern for how the administration would view Feldman should she become the next Union president, the main liaison between the student body and the administration.
“I think that the Dean of Students Office and our administration expects the leader of the student body to at least publicly uphold BU regulations,” he said, “and I don’t think that it’s appropriate or prudent to show our student body president, from what it looks like, guzzling down alcohol. It’s just not the image I think a leader should be conveying.”
Feldman said she believes she has “the respect of the administration” and wants to expand communication with them.
“I think that I have a fantastic working relationship,” she said, “and I’m looking forward to opening lines of communications, facilitating even better relationships in the future.”
