Vox has a policy not to pull parts of posts unless they’re inaccurate—in which case we run a retraction rather than actually deleting the post—or unless the information we’ve posted poses a threat to someone (In the comments following one post, Will Sommer once deleted contact information for someone that somebody else posted in the hopes that they’d be harassed)

In this case, we posted information that was highly relevant to and enlightening about an issue that our comments sections reveal students really care about. One of the email’s intended recipients forwarded it to us with the clear understanding that it would edify or appear in our coverage of this issue.

While I understand why Peter is concerned that his email remains public as he’s dealing with this clusterfuck of an election, I think he makes an excellent point about the issues of controlling flyering. It tempered my initial reaction to the news of their disqualification, which was, “well, didn’t you break the rules?” In fact, I expect it put the issues at hand into perspective for a lot of students.

I agree with you completely, Ben didn’t do it all himself. I never claimed he did, and I’d never try to take away any credit for the dozens of other people who worked on this issue. They’re all leaders.

I think perhaps your bias against GUSA causes you to see me (who is not actually in GUSA) taking more credit for something than I mean to, on behalf of an organization I’m not in, though I have friends in.

Yes you’re right that a lot of people participated, but Ben and Matt both helped lead the effort whether it was in meetings with DeGioia, in Viewpoints they published in the Hoya, in working with Dr. Porterfield to outline the scope and breadth of the LGBTQ working groups, in appointing students to those working groups, in being on the working groups themselves and going to all of their meetings, in organizing multiple town hall style events over the course of the year to address the LGBTQ and race issues that came up, et cetera et cetera.

They weren’t the only leaders, but they were leaders, and their voices (by virtue of their positions) were probably the best heard and best articulated in the student body in general on these issues, both LGBTQ and race. They wrote about it ( http://www.thehoya.com/node/13809 ), spoke often about it, and did a lot to bring the movement that had already built up within the school into the mainstream, serving as the bridge, I think, between the “highly motivated, independently organized” but tiny group of people you mention and the broader community that could have easily dismissed that minority’s concerns as none of their concerns. They gave it their unflagging support and spent hundreds of hours over their two semesters in office working on the issue, especially through the LGBTQ working groups which they served on, and in organizing a lot of discussions about race.

So, just because Ben wasn’t “banging down DeGioia’s door” during that protest doesn’t mean he and Matt didn’t help lead the student body through an unprecedented rough patch.

And Kelley is one person in the Student Association, you can’t anymore say that because one person in the Association disagrees with those students that the whole organization is against it, especially when I know that dozens of students in GUSA worked hours and hours and hours on these issues whether it was on the Disciplinary Review Committee of the university, the Diversity Action Council, the Speech & Expression Board of the university or the LGBTQ Working Groups — all of which had strong GUSA participation and make policy for the entire university. I know, because I was involved in that broader movement.

But congratulations for disagreeing with one item out of my long list and ignoring the rest of it.

This is part of why GUSA is worthless.. it’s a bunch of (mostly) dudes trying to take credit and cast blame for a bunch of random stuff. There was a highly motivated, independently organized group of students who pushed for those changes on the LGBT issues without any “leadership” from GUSA. They got the university to make changes well before GUSA got involved.

Was Ben there banging down DeGioia’s door when he refused to meet with the Out for Change coalition? Nope. Nothing against Ben, again he’s a great guy, but GUSA was by no means out leading the charge on those changes. Current VP Kelley actually wrote a letter to the Hoya against those students.

We’ve been very lucky the last few years from a GUSA perspective! If only these elections didn’t keep getting screwed up.

– Class of 09 Hoya

Who is the Election Commission, anyway?