Student trustee election to be rescheduled
Vice Chancellor Renee Romano speaks at the Senate Executive Committee meeting on Monday, October 3. Romano has decided to repeat the student trustee election, which will be held from April 26 to April 27.
April 9, 2017
The official results of the 2017 spring student elections were released on March 13; however, the student trustee winner was noticeably absent from the report.
An email released on Friday from Renee Romano, vice chancellor for student affairs, to all candidates explained that she has been “carefully reviewing the student trustee election in the context of Trayshawn Mitchell’s complaint that his name was left off the ballot.”
Mitchell claims the Campus Student Election Commission purposely kept him off the ballot.
The Commission stated that Mitchell did not submit the required documentation to prove he is a student of the University. However, Mitchell said he had technical issues when trying to submit the forms and informed the Commission before the deadline.
In the email, Romano said that she conducted an investigation into Mitchell’s complaints. She spoke to each student trustee candidate about their experience during the election as well as their concerns.
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“I also consulted with the University Counsel, whose expertise is to look at the process from the perspective of clarity and a systematic approach to the principle of equal access for all students,” she said.
Mitchell was pleased Romano connected to all of the candidates.
“I was very thankful she was willing to work with us,” he said. “I was very thankful for the email that was sent out to the candidates.”
The email stated that after the investigation, it was clear that technical problems kept one of the candidates off the ballot. Romano has therefore decided to repeat the student trustee election, which will be held from April 26 to April 27.
The Campus Student Election Commission is planning a meeting with all of the candidates today, and only the candidates who were registered during the first election can be considered for the second. The Commission is also going to reimburse the candidates for their expenses from the first campaign “to minimize your financial hardship.”
“I’m going to give (the election) my best effort,” Mitchell said. ” I’m a humble person and I’m going to put forth my best efforts.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story stated that Renee Romano was a Dean, not the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. We acknowledge and regret this error.
