In a unanimous vote by the ASWSU Vancouver Senate, on April 26 Ian Muck was approved as the 2018 summer interim president. In his interview before Senate, Muck stated his goal was to give back to the school by creating a cohesive and diverse team to continue into next year.
Before selecting Muck, current ASWSUV senators also interviewed two other candidates for the position: Catherine Townsel and Travis Toth. All three candidates were asked questions regarding previous experience with hiring boards, what they want to accomplish in this position and what mission and diversity would they bring to student government. Over the summer, the appointed interim president will do things like train next year’s Executive staff and prepare for the re-election in fall that will ultimately fill the presidential position for the 2018-2019 school year.
Muck was hired in the wake of an invalidated election mired in controversy. In March of 2018, Vince Chavez and Davina Cepeda were elected by the student body to be the ASWSUV president and vice president. The other presidential ticket of Caroline Brenner and Zeke Estes filed complaints alleging incompetency by the Election Board and campaign violations by the Chavez/Cepeda campaign. The complaints were heard by the WSU-Pullman based ASWSU Judicial Board on April 5. The board subsequently issued a ruling on April 10 finding the Election Board had failed to fulfil their duties and declaring the presidential election invalid. The board also ruled that due to Cepeda temporarily serving on the Election Board in the first part of the school year, she was ineligible to run as a candidate in the election under ASWSUV bylaw 610.05. A subsequent remedy issued the following day directed student government to disband and form a new Election Board, hire an interim president for the summer and hold an election in the fall.
While the WSU Vancouver Judicial Board would typically rule on election complaints, in this case the Judicial Board for WSU Pullman issued the ruling. When the complaints were first filed, the Vancouver Judicial Board lacked one of the three justices necessary to hear complaints, so student government decided to have the Pullman rule on the case. The existing Vancouver justices also signed statements at the time relinquishing their right to hear the case.
Those justices have now released statements challenging the constitutionality of Pullman’s ruling. On April 24, Chief Justice of the WSU Vancouver Judicial Board Colton Milam, released a memo expressing the Judicial Board’s opinion that Pullman’s Judicial Board did not have right under the ASWSUV Constitution to rule on the case. Milam acknowledged that members of Vancouver’s Judicial Board signed statements transferring the right to hear the case to Pullman, but says the constitution does not give them the ability to relinquish that right. Milam concluded, “So it is the opinion of this Judicial Board that we as representatives of ASWSUV should hear the case on our campus. And to avoid further mishandlings of all cases regarding our campus in the future.”
Nikki Hinshaw, the assistant director of student involvement said that she can’t speak to the nuance involved in determining whether the decision to involve Pullman was constitutional, but the decision was made based on the campus’ needs at the time.
A memo sent out by current ASWSUV president, Jose Scott, states:
The ASWSU Vancouver Judicial Board relinquished their rights to rule over the set of cases generated by the ASWSUV Vancouver Election Board. It is my understanding they did so in favor of the ASWSU Pullman Judicial Board. This agreement was documented via email, and will be made available for your reference. After speaking with the ASWSU Vancouver Judicial Board, I now understand the intent of the memorandum [referenced above] was never to invalidate Pullman’s decision, but instead bring awareness to the decisions’ perceived constitutionality, or lack thereof.
Student activities advisor Brian Van Gundy said that the wholejudicialprocesswasemotionallytaxingonthestudents involved, and he wants to encourage students whether or not they are involved in student government to tell him about their experience and offer suggestions on how to improve the process.
The 2018-2019 ASWSUV president and vice president will be decided with a vote by the student body during the first 20 days of the fall semester. It is undeclared who will run.
In a statement to The VanCougar Caroline Brenner and Zeke Estes said that they will not re-run for president and vice president in the fall.
Brenner explained, “We are thankful for all that ASWSUV has given us over the years, but ultimately are taking the time to refocus on our academic goals, work towards opportunities better aligned with our careers, and are looking to implement and develop other student organizations on campus.
As for Chavez, he said he plans on running next year. “I do have a running mate picked out, but their name will remain anonymous until candidate filling occurs to ensure that this is a decision they wish to take on,” he said.
Applications for interim president were predicated on the condition that applicants do not plan on running in the fall election. However, Muck said he still wants to create an executive team that will set the next president up for success. “It is crucial to remember that this, in no way is about selecting and building a team that I believe that would work well with myself, but instead about building a team that will work together in constructive and creative ways in order to be set up for a successful year,” Muck said. He concluded, “As your newly appointed Interim President, I look forward to working with the ASWSUV Student Government throughout the summer. I do not take this appointment lightly and will work tirelessly to ensure the future success of the ASWSUV Student Government.”