After several days of uncertainty, John Unrug, junior in Business, said he has been disqualified from the race due to academic ineligibility. After speaking with Renee Romano, vice chancellor for Student Affairs, Unrug said the decision was final.

“I talked to everyone that I could, but I had a good run,” Unrug said.

Unrug said he was disqualified because of a disagreement on the interpretation of the trustee rules.

According to Section E Article 2A of the Student Election Commission’s 2008 Rules and Regulations packet, the student trustee’s term begins July 1, which Unrug said he believes is when the rules are effective.

Therefore, a 2.5 grade point average is not required until July 1, and this would allow him to have his name on the ballot, Unrug said.

However, the Office of the Dean of Students and the Student Election Commission interpreted the rules differently.

According to Appendix B of the election packet, the application for student trustee states that the trustee must have a 2.5 grade point average upon the dean’s certification.

“I think it’s very clear,” Romano said. “I don’t see any gray areas.”

Unrug said he spoke with Romano a few months ago about running for student trustee, but Romano said there was no discussion on the requirements at that time.

Student trustee candidate Rob Main, junior in Business, said that Unrug’s presence will be missed, but with the election beginning Monday, there was little change made to his campaign.

“It’s always nice to have a large field of candidates,” Main said. “It’s unfortunate because I really liked what he had to say.”

Student trustee candidate Paul Schmitt, junior in LAS and former Illini Media employee, said if elected, he would involve Unrug in the duties and work of the student trustee.

“I’m sad John left,” Schmitt said. “I think he would do a lot of good for the University.”