Open Letter to the USG Assembly

The following was delivered as a speech at the USG Assembly Meeting on October 22, 2009.

I would like to being with an apology. In my zeal to create an effective presentation of the events of last year’s USG Election, I made the artistic choice of selecting music for a 90-second video because of the first word of the song which I felt summed up the actions of those featured in the video: “corrupt.” Unfortunately, the length of the video coupled with the musical phrasing of the song caused the video to unintentionally end on the phrase “You will burn in hell for your sins.” In my haste to get the video to press, and my limited knowledge of how to proper sound editing, I uploaded the video to the internet as it was.

The unintentional inclusion of this phrase has somehow led those whom the video is about to feel as if I was making a veiled threat against their safety. That is unequivocally not true. I have no desire or intention, nor will I ever take any actions to harm or even intentionally harass anybody. Period. My goal of the video was simple: Present the facts in such a way that it grabs and holds the attention of my audience and encourages them to take action and get involved in USG.

Because of a lack of attention to detail on my part, I caused my goals to suffer, and made some people feel threatened and unsafe. For my thoughtlessness and insensitivity, I deeply apologize.

==================================================

That being said, the facts are that many individuals on this legislative assembly took part in and benefited from a campaign that violated election and University policies. The undergraduate students of this University have a right to know these facts. A conscious decision was made to not bring these violations before a University Judicial Board because were they to be found guilty in this setting, they would have been barred from serving in any student leadership positions on campus and had their crimes put on their University transcript.

The decision was made by myself and other individuals involved because we did not want to bring harm to students whom we believed would not have engaged in this group had they been aware of the gravity of these violations and their choices. Because this is not a personal attack, principal forces us to consider all those who engaged in these violations equally, therefore this decision was made in order to not “throw the baby out with the bath water” and hurt good people who could change their ways in an effort to prosecutes those who might not fit that category.

Now, the situation has changed.

Certain individuals involved in these election violations have begun to engage in the systematic dismemberment of the democratic systems put in place in USG and even worse, the systematic dismemberment of democratically elected members of this body. This is being done through the use of political strategy, threats, and coercion and does not serve the interests of the undergraduate students of UIC.

The time has come to make a principled stand against these individuals based on their actions, and it grieves me that because this is NOT personal but principle, one cannot pick and choose the “good guys” and the “bad guys” and the application of principal must be made to all those engaged in these crimes who still serve in USG.

I do believe that many of those who engaged in University & election policy violations are good and well intentioned people. I want you to please understand that an attack on illegal behaviors or political positions is NOT a personal one.

However, the principals at stake become lost when instead of confronting actual issues at stake we reduce ourselves to personal attacks and name calling. Therefore, please direct your attention to this article written by Assemblyman Sean Murray and published in the Chicago Flame on October 19th.

In this article, Sean completely forgoes addressing the issues and suggest that the prudent thing to do is to pass the messenger off as nothing short of a mad man. He even says, and I quote: “rather than simply deny these allegations or partake in meaningless dialog … one is best advised not to simply provide counter-argument to the opposing side.”

This is basically a call to not engage in rational principled debate, and Sean quickly moves to crude and outrageous personal attacks. He calls me “voyeuristic” and parallels arguing with me to arguing with a racist. He says my logic is “warped” and “narcissistic” and encourages the reader to ignore the content of my arguments and write me off as a nut.

Then, Sean calls me a “crusading pervert” and twice more calls me a pervert while ending with the unfounded and fear-mongering conclusion that “there are many perverts among us.”

All that I did was present the facts that Assembly Members of USG were involved in a campaign highlighted by fraud, theft, and numerous election and University violations. These are not the ravings of a madman, the evidence of their convictions and disqualifications are right there before you in black and white, written by Dean William Rodriguez. And Sean Murray is right there in the mud, a convicted violator of University & election policies like the rest of them.

Sean’s defense to these facts is not to address them because he knows he is guilty and doesn’t have a leg to stand on. Therefore, he chooses distract from the truth by painting me as a “voyeur” and “racist” who is “warped” and “narcissistic” and a “pervert.”

I ask you this: Is this acceptable behavior for a student leader and Assembly member of the Undergraduate Student Government?

I sincerely trust that most of you in this room are good people with their integrity in tact. I trust that most of you, even those I have made political attacks against and mentioned in this letter, have good intentions and whant to do good things. For example, Jake Johnson and the Save the MAP Grant Committee have made very commendable efforts to build student awareness of Illinois politics and how it affects us as students. I just believe that many of you have made drastic mistakes along the way, and unfortunately not all mistakes are be free of consequence.

I have made my fair share of mistakes. Every time I make a mistake, I am confronted with the choice of continuing in my mistake or changing direction, swallowing my pride, and doing the right thing.

I ask every person in USG to not forget just how good you can be. Don’t forget why you joined USG, and don’t forget that you are charged with the heavy responsibility and privilege of serving the interests of the undergraduate students at UIC.

Is it in students best interests to “silence” our accusers with personal attacks and outrageous name calling?

Is it in students best interests to hastily shred the USG Constitution for the sake of expediency and making your jobs “easier?”

Is it in students best interests to support the impeachment of your hard-working democratically elected Vice President based on the accusations of one who never ran in a democratic election and was voted onto the assembly by a handful of her friends? Don’t forget her own sordid past of being involved in the very election fraud that eliminated the candidates she supported allowing the current Vice President to take office. Is an impeachment that stinks of revenge really what is best for UIC students?

Is it in students best interests for convicted election and University Policy violators, whose legitimacy will always be questionable at best, to serve as unelected representatives on the Undergraduate Student Government?

I leave it to your conscience and your integrity to answer these questions for yourself and to make the right choice.