Boston University Student Union Executive Board candidates running on the Renew BU ticket might soon see their hopes for office seats wash away like the sticky chalk they left on sidewalks across campus Monday morning.
If they do, and the slate loses its eligibility to run as the student body’s representation, students will have a makeshift campaign thrown together at the last minute and an under-the-radar, Greek Life-operated write-in operation to choose between as leaders.
On the other hand, if the decision to allow BU Renew to run made Monday night by the Student Elections Committee stands, and Judicial Affairs does not override it, students will have a third choice that thought tagging school property with a spray paint alternative would entice students to vote for it.
The scattered pieces of Renew BU’s midnight art show &-&- which left the slate’s name and no encompassing context dried into the sidewalk in front of the College of Communication, near the BU Beach and on Bay State Road, among other places &-&- drew police to the sites to investigate potential malice. Obviously, there was none, but the act was still an unlawful violation, and is still under investigation by police.
The group’s competition, BUnited, was also penalized by the SEC for campaigning too early on Facebook. All of this was brought to light in the first official day of the campaign season.
If students and Union candidates are serious about representing this student body, why can they not make it through a single day without violating rules and regulations or, beyond that, avoid potential criminal prosecution? No, nothing was set on fire, and any harm or foul was mild. But whether significant or slight, offenses caused by a group that wants to be taken seriously &-&- especially on the first day it is officially under the microscope &-&- make the statement that the perpetrator cannot be trusted to follow laws or even know them &-&- if not in the first 24 hours, why in the scope of the next 12 months?
Slates that argue election guidelines that are too confusing or too gray to follow are grasping at straws. A politician should always be aware of the limitations under which he or she must operate (or state laws, more importantly). If a candidate cannot get through the first day of campaigning without flashing lights on his or her heels, it seems unlikely that he or she can elicit the change we all say we’re waiting for.
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