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Rashaun Rucker found out a week after his election that he was not considered eligible to hold office as SGA president. Photo: Curlyn Smith

The SGA candidate elected for president last week has been found ineligible for the office.

On April 18, a memorandum was circulated saying that art major Rashaun Rucker, who won the election over Timothy Peterkin and Sequestis Pridgen seven days earlier, was disqualified because he didn’t have enough credit hours for senior status.

The memorandum was released by Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Angela Terry and Associate Dean of Student Affairs Roger Bryant.

According to Rucker, he received a call from Student Affairs stating that the Registrar’s office had not accepted all of the hours he transferred from Elizabeth State University.

Both Terry and Bryant say they are saddened by the turn of events. "I feel very badly that this happened," said Bryant.

SGA Selection Results:

These results are from the election held April 11, 2000.

SGA president

Rashaun Rucker: 47.5 % Timothy Peterkin: 37% Sequestis Pridgen: 15.5%

SGA vice president

Stephanie Jackson: 54.5% Casey Corey: 45.5%

Miss NCCU

Lakeeshia Austin: 43.5% Tyra Holley: 28.2% Allana Smith: 28.2%

"It pains you when you have a portion of the student body trying to practice good student behavior by jumping through hoops and it is all for naught," said Terry.

Candidates for SGA president must meet a number of requirements. In addition to having senior status, each candidate must present a petition signed by 100 students.

Candidates must have a clean disciplinary record, be in good financial standing with the university and have a 2.5 or higher GPA.

The SGA election board is responsible for administering and regulating all campus elections. According to the SGA Constitution, the election board must "investigate and certify the qualifications of all candidates."

But the election board has problems of its own. Besides its chair, Shauna Burnett, the election board only has students Brad Chapman and Shaquana Lee as its other members. The election board is supposed to have 12 members. The election board is appointed by the SGA president.

"I guess I’m supposed to pull the other candidates out of the sky," said Burnett.

According to Burnett, the board gets the names of candidates and sends the list to Bryant and SGA Adviser Hazel Davis. Then they send the list to the registrar to see if they qualify. Burnett says that the GPAs were checked this time, but not the classifications.

"This is what happened," said Burnett. "They didn’t check for classification and the day after the election they found out Rucker wasn’t eligible. Even with the credits this semester he’d have to go to summer school full time and would be cutting the hours so close."

According to Associate Dean of Student Affairs Roger Bryant there was a series of errors. "I think that there are several things that caused it to happen. The election board letting students campaign prior to the election, students having to be responsible for giving their correct status, and I should have made sure that the hours were properly checked," he said.

According to Rucker, he did receive an "open statement" saying that he could begin campaigning.

Viewpoints on this episode seem to rely on different interpretations of the school’s constitution. Gray and Terry, for example, gave different interpretations of the classification requirements regarding presidential elections.

"On page 33 of the Old Eagle Eye Handbook, it says that you have during the academic year to qualify," said Gray. "So, Rucker is a viable candidate and should be the president of SGA."

Terry disagreed.

"Since the constitution is written, the precedent has been set in the interpretation of the date that a student could become eligible in summer school," said Terry. "We talked to the university attorney, but it isn’t just in the written word, but the interpretation. That is defined by procedure and practice."

Additionally, a draft of a new constitution exists, but has not yet been approved. This new constitution would allow juniors to hold the office of SGA president.

"I didn’t try to fight or nothing," said Rucker. "I had about 72 hours and could have done it in summer school, but it would not have been effective before the July 1 start date. Actually they were trying to go with protocol after the whole Cedric Bowers incident and follow the rules."

Former Vice President Cedric Bowers was impeached Feb, 8 for not fulfilling his duties.

Rucker said he accepts responsibility for the failed election, too.

"I wouldn’t be a man if I placed the blame anywhere but upon myself," said Rucker. "I should have been more cognizant of my own affairs."

WHAT’S NEXT?

On top of this election reversal there is now considerable uncertainty and controversy about how the next candidate should be selected.

Breaking News There will be a runoff election between Peterkin and Pridgen on Monday, May 1 at the Student Union, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. This was decided at an April 26 meeting in Office of the Chancellor.

Should second place candidate Timothy Peterkin become the SGA president? Or should there be a runoff between Peterkin and Sequestis Pridgen?

The election board is supposed to handle run-offs and recounts. But this time, the matter doesn’t appear to be in their hands.

Peterkin

Pridgen

In the memorandum released by Terry and Bryant, a runoff election scheduled for April 26 was set between Peterkin and Pridgen. But a second memorandum issued from at a meeting attended by Chambers, Terry, Davis, Bryant, and current SGA president Clifton Gray called for different approach.

According to the memo, Vice President-elect Stephanie Jackson, a junior with no SGA experience, will be the acting president until a new election is held. The memo draft, which is addressed to the university community, does not state if the new election will be held this semester or at the beginning of fall semester. Nor does it state if it will be a runoff or an open election.

One thing is clear: both candidates, the current SGA president, and the SGA election board chair are unhappy with the way the administration -- especially Chancellor Chambers -- has entered into the fray.

"I wish the administration had acted in a more time efficient manner, and that they had followed all rules and regulations," said Peterkin.

According to Gray, the re-election process should be handled by the SGA alone.

"We’ve been hoodwinked and bamboozled." said Gray. "No one has the authority to make SGA decisions except SGA. Yet the administration -- Dr. Terry and Chancellor Chambers -- have elected to ignore the Constitution."

Burnett feels the handling of the matter should have remained with SGA and Student Affairs.

"The chancellor has come in and tried to lead the boat and he has not let Dean Bryant and [SGA adviser] Ms. Davis take the reins," said Burnett. "I thought it was going well, but now it’s disorganized due to the fact that the chancellor will not let Bryant and Davis be the leaders that they want to be."

Pridgen is especially critical of the role Chambers has played.

"Julius Chambers? Definition? Delegation of authority? What does this mean?" said Pridgen. "When you are chancellor of a university you cannot be in charge of every little detail. You put people in place who are more knowledgeable of certain aspects of the university than you are. What Julius Chambers has done is undermine the authority of the people he has put in place, which are Dr. Angela O. Terry and Roger G. Bryant."