A new election for ASMC president will be held in the fall, with
both Ebony Lubarsky and Gloria Espinosa, as well as any other
interested students, allowed to campaign.
“A brand new election for office of ASMC president will be held
in the fall. At this time in the semester nothing else can be
done,” said Shirley Weishaar, Dean of Students.
Espinosa said, “I’m happy with the new election, but I’m not
happy with it being in the fall. I feel that the school needs a
president going into the fall.”
Lubarsky said she is “disappointed, yet not at all surprised,”
at the decision for a new election. She received an e-mail on April
28 from Kennedy Golden, assistant Dean of Students, stating that
“we have ascertained that all three students [required for a
Judicial Board review] cannot participate, so have determined that
there will be no judicial hearing for either [Lubarsky or
Espinosa].”
Angry that her previously reported allegations against Espinosa
and current ASMC president LeAnna Perez will not be reviewed,
Lubarsky said, “It’s an insult to the students’ intelligence and it
sends the wrong message. They’ve read the allegations and now
they’re just being told there will be a new election. It avoids
dealing with the issue [of current ASMC members violating the honor
code.]”
“The only reason Gloria wanted the review was because I wanted
one. She said to me, ‘If I’m going down, you’re going down.’
I was seeking justice. She was seeking revenge,” Lubarsky said.
“With no hearing, it gives the impression that my acts were as
culpable as hers and I don’t agree with that.”
Lubarsky said that since The Weekly reported the story two weeks
ago, “I’ve heard it said that I used the race card in this, and my
question is which card? My father’s because he’s Jewish; or my
mother’s because she’s black; or the biracial card for what I
am?”
According to Lubarsky, the race issue was first brought up by
Espinosa. Lubarsky said Espinosa accused her of “telling people to
vote for me because I’m black, which is absolutely untrue.”
She played the race card by saying I played it when I didn’t, to
cover the fact that she had no political platform.”
“Being biracial, I have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to
treating or seeing people solely on race,” Lubarsky said.
Espinosa also responded to statements that the election
controversy has been racially divisive on campus. “If anything, as
president I would work to advocate for all women at Mills,
including all women of color,” she said.
“I’m glad that neither of us have to sacrifice our candidacy,”
Espinosa said. “To see a woman of color in the highest position
would be a tremendous honor for either one of us.”
Lubarsky said, “I’m not crying, but I am fighting. I started
this campaign fighting for what I believed was right, and I will
end it that way as well. As long as I am a student at this college
I will exercise my constitutional rights to have a review.”
The decision leaves Annie Flores in the position of acting
President, as well as Vice-President.
“I am pleased with the decision [for a new election],” Flores
said, “and I believe that there are more than two qualified
candidates on this campus who could run. It’s just a matter of
fostering that leadership.”
“I know that the new election will bring forward a new leaf of
leadership, as well as a more comprehensive [election] process
overall,” Flores said.
Vanessa Yasui, who lost her campaign against Flores and may now
be appointed Organizational Chair, said that overall, she was
satisfied with the decision to hold a new presidential
election.
Yasui, who will be a junior next year, also said that she
thought the lack of communication made everything very difficult.
“It’s so complicated and I think there weren’t really clear
rules.”
She said she received an e-mail telling her she’d been appointed
as chair without any information on what the position entails “but
I checked off a box at the top [of the petition for candidacy] that
said I would be interested in other positions.”
But Yasui said that regardless, she’s happy to be involved, and
that she ran for ASMC because she “wanted to do something to get
involved.”
While postponing the election to the fall may not be the most
desirable resolution, “It is the most appropriate thing to do. We
will have a fresh start in the fall,” said Weishaar.
