Editor’s note: The Daily Utah Chronicle solicits letters to the editor regarding columns or stories printed within the newspaper. However, with the tumultuous last week of ASUU elections, we’ve decided to publish this letter that was sent to us by Leo Masic, a member of the ASUU Elections Committee, to give voice to a perspective not offered within our coverage. We encourage our readers to respond by emailing [email protected].
 
Editor:
I write this as one of the four individuals on the Elections Committee who voted to disqualify the top three candidates of Team Unite last week.
I intend not to comment on the wisdom of that decision. People have strong feelings on both sides, and I’m not here to change those thoughts.
But I wish to make this vitally important remark: we came to a decision last Tuesday night under no outside influence. We did not enter the hearing with a decision already in mind. We made our ruling solely based off of the evidence supplied by both sides, the testimony that was given at the hearing. There was not one bit of conspiracy, not one iota of collusion. We weren’t beholden to anyone whosoever, besides the approximately 33,000 students that comprise the U.
Did we come to an utterly flawed conclusion? The ASUU Supreme Court thinks so — and that’s totally fine by me. The court exists as a mechanism for individuals to appeal decisions they deem unfair. And if the Supreme Court sides with the appellant, so be it. I think I can speak on behalf of the rest of the Elections Committee when I say that we fully support this process. But while the ruling may have been determined as mistaken, it was not under any circumstance the result of bias or machination.
I assure the candidates of the election, as well the student body at large, that the committee remains committed to ensuring the integrity and fairness of ASUU elections. We will continue to function in the impartial, uninfluenced manner we have been doing hitherto. The Supreme Court will carry on checking and balancing our rulings. And I hope that we may remember throughout the duration of the election that we are all first and foremost fellow students attending the greatest institution of higher education in this state.
 
Leo Masic
Sophomore, urban planning and political science