There have been some major developments in the ASUA world, the most impactful of which is the resignation of Executive Vice President David Reece after having been lambasted from multiples sides concerning ASUA Appropriations Board decisions.
President Erin Hertzog’s chief of staff and presidential candidate Tommy Bruce wins the award for "most inflammatory quote" after having said this in the Wildcat:
"I am thrilled that he chose to resign," Bruce said. "I think that’s the only service he’s done for the students all year."
Meanwhile, it appears that Administrative Vice President Jami Reinsch used the wrong listserv to contact directors of ASUA programs and services (not Appropriations Board directors as stated earlier). Text of email is below but can be publicly verified here.
Hey Directors,
First of all, I just want to express how proud and impressed I am with each and every one of you. I read through the reports that I have and you are all doing such awesome things I could just cry.
Some of you already have heard the news if you were at the Senate meeting tonight, Executive Vice President Reece has resigned. If you know why, I ask that you refrain from gossip and keep the information to yourself. The important thing to know is that you are still here and we still have a good solid few months left to accomplish our goals and leave behind a legacy. ASUA has taken a lot of heat these past two weeks, but regardless of what some people may think, ASUA is an amazing organization to be apart of (incase you didnt already know:), and we already have a list a mile long of things we have done. Please do not let recent events discourage you from your job here in the office. I am proud to call all of you directors and just because we hit a bump in the road, we’re still driving. Ok, that was corny but you get my point.
Next thing I want to say is that I really appreciate those who have been coming to your office hours! Keep it up! Marci and I will be out of the office all day on Friday because we are going to a Cats RIDDE conference.
If you have not yet turned in a report to me, hurry up because we already have another one due a week from tomorrow.
Don’t forget we have Director’s Council next Monday!
Please keep up the good work. You have no idea hod good it feels to know that even though things have been rough in some areas of ASUA, I am confident in the success that has already come out and continues to come out of Programs and Services. I am thankful to have each and every one of you!
Meanwhile there is Appropriations Board Director Blake Rebling, who has also received much bad press. On Facebook, Rebling published a transcript of a speech he gave at Monday’s appropriations board meeting and Wednesday’s Senate meeting.
I have had the pleasure thus far this year to serve on this board with people of varying opinions. I would like to explicitly complement Director Frankel. He and I seldom agree on anything controversial. But he votes No even when he knows the majority of the board will vote Yes. He stands up for what he believes is right no matter the adversity, and for that reason I know, in my heart, that courage is not a partisan issue. That no matter your principles, courage exists across the spectrum, and I am honored to serve on this board with him and the rest of my fellow directors.
I am also honored to serve with, and have the pleasure of being friends with, Executive Vice President David Reece and Senator Shawn Ingram. Despite popular belief, they disagree often on a large variety of issues, and that is why I am honored to know them both, for they stand up for what they believe in. My only disappointment with one of them is with David Reece, for I wish he would post his office hours so I could more frequently waste his time, for I greatly enjoy his company. (I’d also like to add as a side note that to the best of my knowledge he does not have to legally post his office hours.)
As for the topic I wish to address you on, let me start by saying this. I did not enter, and I do not pursue a career in politics, to advance myself in rank, power, and distinction. I left the much more comfortable, peaceable, and cubical field of Computer Science because I believed, as I continue to believe, that the principles of freedom and justice are under attack by those who are either too ignorant to realize what they are doing, or by those who attack democracy outright because they fear the end of their own unrighteous power.
In the past week, I have encountered the former and lesser kind of evil. I have encountered those who abstain from all controversial votes so they may advance their own political career. I have encountered those who purposely mistake trying to use one’s effort and resources to help out one’s friends with corruption. I have encountered those who purposely mistake legal campaign contributions with bribery. I have encountered those who seek media coverage rather than the justice they claim to be in pursuit of. I have encountered those who will surely change their opinions if they see that the direction of the wind is turning.
I will not call these people out by name, for I do not give all of you this address to attack them as individuals. I attack only their lack of principles. While Machiavellian means may be a good way to be a politician, they are a horrible manner by which to be a leader. I am proud to be of the kind of people who stick to what they believe, even in the face of immense adversity, even in the face of a room packed full of people who mistake my principles for degradation of a certain group.
I reaffirm my belief that the "Vagina Monologues" are inappropriate and vulgar, and do not deserve to be funded by a state entity. They have the right to exist, they have the right to put on their play, they have the right to ask for money, but they are not entitled by their very existence to receive state funding, and I reaffirm that I had a right to vote No.
I reaffirm my belief that the cause of the V-day Warriors is extremely righteous, and that I would gladly vote in favor of funding a different method that would help them raise money for that very noble cause.
Furthermore, I would like to say affirmatively that I believe the Senate acted illegally to fund that organization at their last meeting. It would have been perfectly legal for them to give money to the group out of their own funding, but it was not legal for them to change the appropriations decision past refuting it. Due process was not violated, this body, this board, is governed by the Robert Rules of Order, and the chair decides when to grant the floor to an individual or entity. The group had had ample opportunity to explain their proposal. Many groups over the course of this academic year have wished to say more then they already had and had their request to speak denied, and that is not a violation of due process. It is an end to debate when the question is called and no member objects.
Furthermore, I am disgusted by the fact that a passionate speech seemed to have been all that was required to push the Senate to such an illegal action. The Senate is a legal entity and the laws of our organization must be upheld before the wishes of the mob mentality are granted simply by the sensationalism they provide.
I could sit here and tell you an adverse story of how I am only alive due to the advent of modern medicine, how I spent five years going through speech school so I could speak the English Language properly at the age of eight, how I remain partially deaf, how I am a first generation college student whose father worked so hard when he was younger that he seldom saw him. I could tell you how my grandfather who is like a second father to me is currently in hospice care, how I have recently gone through a tumultuous divorce of my parents, and how the love of my life and the reason I stayed in Arizona rejected me due to her own religious beliefs, and all of this would be true, but it would and is also all irrelevant.
My own story of adversity should not draw you to like me. I believe one might like me because I stand here fighting for what I believe in, despite the negative press it has garnered me. Even if it is not what you believe in, as is the case of Director Frankel and others in this room, I ask you to respect me for standing up for my principles. It is my strong belief that this world has enough moderates and enough apathetics, and I will not spend the rest of my life caring more about what people think of me than what I think is right. I will not allow my principles to be whitewashed by the beliefs of others. If this causes me a life of being hated by many, then so be it. Here I stand. I encourage everyone to stand by their principles, no matter how liberal or conservative they may be. Thank you all very much.
Various College Republicans including senatorial candidate Ry Ellison offer Rebling their support in the post’s comments.
Growler policy announcement: For purposes of public comment on this issue by all individuals, the Growler is an open forum. All involved individuals who wish to comment with their identities verified may submit an statement up to 1,200 words to be published uncensored for a post to be published the morning of February 27th. This is the only feasible way I know of sorting through the whole thing. Anonymous comment will not be accepted.
Update: This is why I won’t be accepting anonymous comments. All that is to be expected is a bunch of unfounded petty bickering.
Update II: Jami Reinsch emailed in to clarify that her email was addressed to Programs and Services directors, not those of the Appropriations Board. The correction has been made above.
