Editor:

We as the GO Party leaders appreciate the opportunity to address some of the events that have transpired over the past two days, particularly with regard to the article that was published in yesterday’s edition of The Daily Utah Chronicle.

In preparing for active campaigning, we arranged to have several sound clips recorded that we could play on the Marriott Plaza. Many of the clips featured international students who are supporting the GO Party encouraging other students to vote in their respective languages8212;Mandarin, Arabic and Vietnamese were just a few of the languages featured. Other clips were feeble and misguided attempts at satire, as in the case of the offensive sound clip. Although we did not approve of this sound clip’s content, it was uploaded to our Web site anyway as a result of miscommunication and oversight.

Regardless, the clip was available to students and it was incredibly offensive. First, we would like to take this opportunity to offer our most profuse apologies to all students who heard this clip. The clip’s substance had no place in our campaign, and as a party that believes deeply in the values of social justice, we take full responsibility for its content. Many students were justifiably upset and angry and we would like each of them to know how deeply sorry we are. Many have suggested that an apology from the leaders of the GO Party is not enough, that such sentiments can be discounted as nothing more than campaign rhetoric. We agree. That is why we are committing to tempering our apology with real steps toward rectifying the wrongs that our clip has done.

We commit to actively seeking opportunities for education in social justice, as well as encouraging all members of our party to do the same. If we are elected, we will also strongly focus on social justice education for student groups so that our campus can progress in a way that draws us closer to the day that events like this will never occur again.

The incredibly inappropriate sound clip has been removed from our Web site and will never be played again. Naturally, a lot of meaningful dialogue has been created as a result of this offensive sound clip. We hope that we can actively participate in these conversations, and that all of us8212;whether associated with a party or not8212;can reaffirm our commitment to increased levels of social justice education in the days to come. Our apology is from the heart and we will do our part in making sure that nothing like it ever happens again.

Pace Johnson, Jeff Sbaih, Erica Andersen,
The GO Party