Disqualified

Two candidates for Homecoming queen were disqualified last Friday, a day before the winners were announced.

Junior psychology major Heather Safley and junior business major Juliet Ford campaigned during homecoming week by approaching students in the University Student Commons and encouraging them to vote in the elections.

On Tuesday afternoon, Safley said, Faith Wilkerson, chairwoman of the Homecoming Committee, told the two candidates they were not allowed to approach people in groups. One-on-one conversations between candidates or members of their sororities and passers-by were acceptable according to Wilkerson, Safley said.

Reuban Rodriguez, associate vice provost and dean of student affairs, said that when a problem arises during a Homecoming election, the committee decides the punishment for the candidate.

“It’s at the discretion of . the Homecoming Committee to make the decision as to whether or not the candidate would continue,” Rodriguez said.

Wilkerson declined to comment on the issue.

Ford and Phi Mu President Jackie Bundy could not talk about the problem because of restrictions within their national organization.

Safley, a member of Sigma Sigma Sigma, said she continued to campaign with her sorority sisters in a manner viewed as acceptable by the committee. Safley said she went to the commons Wednesday and Thursday with a group of her sorority sisters and approached students on a one-on-one basis.

“I feel that they judged us too harsh, and I don’t feel I deserved it, and I don’t think Juliet deserved it, either.”
– Heather Safley

“I felt that we were in a position to campaign, and I felt that we did that, and I don’t feel that we were ‘harassing’ people as they (the committee) said we were doing,” Safley said. “We were just campaigning.”

Thursday evening, Safley received a call from a member of the committee asking her to attend a meeting the next day. The caller, Safley said, did not tell her what the meeting was about.

“They told me that . they didn’t want to start drama on Thursday night,” Safley said regarding the phone call.

Safley found out at the meeting that she and Ford were disqualified.

“(Wilkerson) specifically told me that if we went to people on a one-on-one basis, then it was fine,” Safley said. “So that’s what we did.”

Safley said the committee seemed to think differently.

At the Friday meeting, Safley said, she offered alternative punishments for herself and Ford, but the committee did not consider any of them. One proposal was that all prizes would be taken away from the winner, if it was one of the two candidates. Safley said she also suggested that representatives from her and Ford’s sororities not be allowed to run for Homecoming queen next year.

“They said they thought about it (an alternative punishment) and felt that disqualification was the best option,” Safley said. “I feel that they judged us too harsh, and I don’t feel I deserved it, and I don’t think Juliet deserved it, either.”

At the meeting, Safley said, the committee showed the candidates the final votes of the election, which ended last Thursday. Safley had won approximately 480 votes, Ford 440, and Monica Motley, later appointed Homecoming queen, received about 300.

Rodriguez said the committee generally does not release the official number of votes.

Safley said she went to the game Saturday even though it was hard for her to watch the other contestants from the audience.

“It was really hard for me to go, actually,” Safley said. “I went because I knew my (sorority) sisters would be there, and I just wanted to show them that I was strong.”

Safley was not allowed to walk on the court during the coronation.

This was the first year the committee decided to regulate voting in the commons, Rodriguez said. He said a major issue was that it was possible for candidates to disturb students by asking them to vote a certain way.

“The main concern that would carry over is that we wanted students to be able to make informed choices about who they were voting for and not to be overly aggressive on the candidates’ side,” Rodriguez said.

Safley said she didn’t receive a written set of rules on what was acceptable prior to the campaign.

“I feel very strongly that they should make up written rules, and I hope that this doesn’t happen to anybody else,” Safley said. “They told me at our meeting on Friday morning before Homecoming that . it would be too much trouble to sit down and think of all the possible rules.”

According to Motley, the committee explained the rules for the campaign.

“They did give us campaign rules,” Motley said. “They would meet with us and say, ‘You weren’t able to do that.’ We were informed about what we could and couldn’t do.”

Rodriguez said his understanding is that candidates were explained the rules in advance.

“From what I understand, the candidates . (were) given the parameters by which they can campaign and if there are things that come up that are of concern, we always try to address them with all the candidates,” Rodriguez said.

If a specific candidate created a problem, Rodriguez added, the committee would address the contestant individually.

As for what is acceptable in such a competition, Rodriguez said, candidates were expected to participate in the organized events during Homecoming week.

“I think we provide a number of activities in appropriate fashion . to let the general student body know who the folks who are running and ways that they could go about voting,” Rodriguez said. “So it’s a fine line, and the main thing that’s important for me is always the process involved.”

Motley said the candidates this year were a very diverse group that represented the VCU student body.

“I truly think that the outcome was based on the students’ choice and not on individuals getting disqualified,” Motley said. “It was unfortunate, but I believe it still was up to the students.”

Meriam Ahari, supported by Phi Mu, won Homecoming queen in 2006; Bree Sison, supported by Sigma Sigma Sigma, took second place.

Safley said the two sororities always lead, and the committee thought it was time for a change.

“They said they were tired of our organizations trying so hard for this, basically,” Safley said. “It’s school spirit.”