Newsom pulls out of presidential race

Amid allegations of unconstitutionality and confusion over rules of procedure, the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate moved last night to overturn Tuesday night's nominations of presidential candidates and redo the process, following an announcement by junior Randy Newsom that he is withdrawing from the race.

Newsom cited "personal issues, family issues, and issues of my future" as reasons for his resignation.

With a new vote, the Senate nominated sophomore Chike Aguh and sophomore Joe Mead, the other previous presidential candidate, over junior Julia Karol.

That vote, however, may not stand: numerous allegations about the unconstitutionality of the procedure were made during the meeting, and former TCU Senate Parliamentarian Adam Koeppel -- who is no longer a member of the body -- filed two official complaints with the Tufts Community Union Judiciary (TCUJ) before the votes were even tallied. A hearing is likely to be held today.

Koeppel complained that ELBO did not have a constitutional right to hold a second nominations meeting and that the Senate could not overturn the results of its first meeting.

"I'm not against a contested election, I just want to go about this through the proper procedure," Koeppel said. "I don't see anybody from the student body here, and I don't think they were informed. The rules they chose, the rules they voted on were violated."

Throughout the meeting, there was much confusion about what rules even applied to the process. From the beginning, when no current senators were sure about what constituted a quorum, to various procedural motions that were made and then forgotten, to the Senate throwing out normal parliamentary rules because new senators did not know them, and to uncertainty over how the voting was supposed to be done, the meeting seemed at points like a five-ring circus.

The issue itself was a gray area for which the constitution provides no clear answers. Article V, Section B, part 1 of the constitution stipulates that the Senate "will nominate two presidential candidates," but does not say it must nominate two, nor does it say that two candidates must run for office or appear on the ballot. Once Newsom announced his resignation, both Elections Board (ELBO) and the Senate scrambled to figure out how to handle the situation in the way that was "best for the student body."

Definitions of what was best, however, varied greatly.

Members of ELBO, who admitted to not consulting the TCUJ about the proper interpretation of the constitution, felt that in calling a new nominations meeting, they were acting according to their charge to hold fair and impartial elections.

"We felt that had we not taken action as quickly and decisively as we did, we would have done harm to the presidential race," ELBO member Aravinda Rao said.

Though there were complaints that potential candidates did not have time to prepare a platform before the meeting, ELBO said the new nominations had to be held immediately because the presidential elections could not be delayed.

But many senators saw ELBO's decision to hold a second nominations meeting as not in the best interest of the student body. Mead, for example, did not wish to see himself win in an uncontested election, but said that upholding the rules of student government should have been the most important consideration.

"Violating the constitution is in no way in the best interest of the student body. If we sustain it, we're setting a precedent that we can make up the rules as we go along."

ELBO may have been in violation of the constitution just by holding the meeting in the first place. Article V, Section I says that ELBO shall call a meeting to nominate presidential candidates within two academic days of the general Senate election, but does not give ELBO the right to hold a second meeting or hold one after the two-day period.

Others questioned, however, whether this election can be fair at all. Mead had to go through the nominations process over again and risk losing his candidacy and now must re-plan his campaign strategy. Aguh has only five days to run a presidential campaign, and many students are likely to not hear about his candidacy until Tuesday because of the holiday weekend.

"It's unfair to both candidates," Mead said.

Some senators alleged that the new nominations meeting was not fair because Aguh had more time to prepare his platform Karol, the other senator who sought a nomination. While the exact moment that Aguh learned of Newsom's resignation from the race is up for debate, he admits to knowing for sure this morning that Newsom was bowing out, and Newsom admits that he may have hinted so to Aguh on Wednesday night. Other senators were not informed until yesterday afternoon, and the initial e-mail that ELBO sent to the body said only that there would be an emergency meeting and did not say the reason why.

Senators' support of the overturning of Tuesday night's meeting came out of concern about whether an uncontested election was good for student government. But that concern was somewhat hypocritical, said former vice president Andrew Potts, given that most senators were elected to the body in uncontested elections.

"Everyone has an equal and fair opportunity to run for president," he said.

But others say they were not interested in running against Newsom because they shared the same opinions as he.

"When Randy dropped out, the concern was about the vision and where it would go," said Aguh, whose platform greatly resembles Newsom's. "Having a contested election is the best thing for the student body. The students should have a choice."

Koeppel also said he contemplated running for president but instead decided to leave the Senate and study abroad because he saw few differences between his ideas and Newsom's.

Newsom's unexpected resignation came after he received significant pieces of news yesterday that indicated he might not be able to spend the summer at Tufts, which is part of the president's duty, and made him worry that he would be distracted from the job during the school year.

"To some, this sounds like a cop out, but I believe in my heart that I am doing what is right," Newsom said. "My hope is that after this meeting, my candidacy will be forgotten and the whole community can get down to the process of choosing the leader that they believe is best for Tufts next year."