This Monday, the Judicial Board nullified the decision of the Rules and Elections Committee to call for a runoff election for the position of Grand Marshal. In doing so, they declared Carlos Perea ’07 Grand Marshal and have now left many to wonder whether anyone will appeal the decision of the J-Board to the Review Board.
It is imperative that the electorate’s choice for GM be declared the final winner, and thus we recognize the need for any doubts to be fully considered by the appropriate judicial bodies. At the same time, however, an appeal of this J-Board case would be heard by the Institute’s Review Board, comprised of faculty, staff, students, and administrators. In effect, if an appeal is heard, the Grand Marshal election will not be decided by students alone.
This is not a statement that can be taken lightly. We strongly discourage anyone from appealing the J-Board’s decision to the Review Board for this reason. In the event that an appeal is filed, we call on the Review Board to not hear the case. They should let the Institute judicial body fully composed of students make the final decision on the matter of whom the chief elected student government official is.
In addition to these reasons, it is also important to point out that it has been almost a month since GM Week. If any still feel the need to adjudicate the matter any further, they should only do so by taking the matter to the J-Board again, and they need to do it promptly; the J-Board should also render any new decisions as quickly as possible and prudent. In the end, for the good of the office of the GM and the sanctity of the student elections this year, all parties need to come together and support the person in office after all the dust settles.
