Sophomore presidency remains vacant; multiple campaigning violations alleged

April 18, 2018, 3:40 a.m.

Amid the continued vacancy of next year’s sophomore class presidency, a recent edition of the anonymously-authored campus e-newsletter The Fountain Hopper (FoHo) has raised questions about how many candidates for the position are currently under investigation for potential campaign violations.

Of the four slates — StanFor-U, The Culture, FOREVER ’21 and Twenty-One, Twenty-Fun — that ran for the position, three have been accused of some form of misconduct.

The precise status of the investigation is, at present, unknown. ASSU Elections Commissioner Paul Serrato ’19 wrote in an email to The Daily that he is unable to comment on the investigation. 

On Monday, The Daily reported on an Apr. 6 party that FOREVER ’21 hosted in the freshman dorm Otero, at which alcoholic beverages were allegedly served to minors. As a violation of California law, and thus both University policy and ASSU Elections Commission regulations, this would likely have prompted an investigation. Indeed, members of the slate confirmed that they had submitted a report on the event to the Commission.

But according to slate member Kiki Velez ’21, the slate is “confident that [they] haven’t broken any campaign or dorm regulations.”

Later that day, the FoHo sent out an email that reiterated the claims against FOREVER ’21, and also discussed additional ones against two other slates: Twenty-One, Twenty-Fun and The Culture.

The email said that Twenty-One, Twenty-Fun — which includes Celine Foster ’21, Brian Chan ’21, Johnathan Bridges ’21 and N’Nasseri Carew-Johnson ’21 — is “reportedly being investigated for possibly going over the $400 campaign spending cap.”

The FoHo email also said that the slate offered a number of free giveaways — including two tickets to a Beyonce concert — and had allegedly attempted to organize a party during winter quarter, which would have violated ASSU rules restricting campaigning before April 2.

In a written statement to The Daily, Chan denied accusations of campaign violations and added that the FoHo never reached out to members of the slate for comment on the claims.

“We are not nor have ever been over budget nor under investigation,” Chan said.

He added, “Our slate did not begin campaigning until the time the Elections Commission said campaigning would be allowed.”

Serrato said that campaign finance information would not be available until after all election results are certified.

The FoHo also claimed that a third slate, The Culture — comprised of Sara Kolb ’21, Joe McGrath ’21, Cade Crow ’21 and Ebbie Banks ’21— tried to throw a party in freshman dorm Twain. The party would have included alcohol, but Twain Resident Assistants cancelled the event after someone sent them screenshots of the Frosh Council GroupMe in which the event had initially been advertised.

Members of The Culture did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

StanFor-U — the fourth slate and the only one not named in the FoHo report — also did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

 

Contact Brian Contreras at brianc42 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

Brian Contreras was the Daily's Investigations Editor during the '19-'20 school year. Before that, he was a Managing Editor of the news section. A graduate of Stanford's class of 2020, he studied Science, Technology, and Society with a minor in Anthropology. Brian hails from Washington, DC and is pursuing a career in tech journalism. Contact him at briancontreras42 'at' gmail.com.

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