To the first years

To my fellow students in the Class of 2006:

As you know from the front page, close review of the results from last week’s first-year elections revealed evidence that improprieties occurred in the voting process. Aren Cambre, university webmaster and coordinator of student elections, followed the normal, procedural process taken after every election and found substantiation that the elections were compromised. Cambre was able to confirm that several students who allegedly cast some of the votes in question, in fact denied voting in the election, which indicates that their identities had been falsified and used without their permission. The Senate membership committee, responsible for the fair enforcement and oversight of the Student Senate Election Code, evaluated the facts and determined them to be overwhelmingly credible.

First of all, you must trust that your elected representatives working with the membership committee have full control of the situation. The upcoming election will be fair, effective and accurate. In order to ensure that this will be the reality, the leadership of your student body met for more than 10 hours throughout the weekend, including a seven-hour meeting after learning of the situation Friday.

The Student Senate also held a special session Sunday evening to adopt special rules for the election and to further ensure its success. Much credit is due to these elected and appointed representatives, as they came together on short notice for our community’s benefit.

While this issue is a concern for all of us, we should focus on making sure each of you votes this Wednesday and Thursday. It is inconvenient and no doubt a little disheartening to vote a second time. However, it is extremely important. As angry as this has made many of us, myself included, the investigation into who caused this problem is not our responsibility. The university’s judicial officer has been notified and will be proceeding with an investigation. It is our responsibility, however, to come forward with any information we have that could help that process.

For those of you seeking the offices up for election, now is not the time to weaken. You must stay strong for another election. There will be winners, and there will be losers. I know this process can be tiring the first time around, and will likely be more so this second time. But know that our campus’s need for dedicated people like each of you is no different than it was. If this opportunity still does not work out, as difficult as it might be, please keep getting involved.

There are three things I can tell you: (1) You need not worry about the situation because it is now under control. (2) Your class still needs great leaders like those running and others to be committed to our university. (3) Your only concern regarding this week’s election should be who to vote for, because the election will be fair and successful.

I told you at convocation that you are an amazing class, and you are. So please, don’t let this stop you.

Sincerely,

Your President,

Dustin Odham