There has been a lot of finger-pointing about the ethical dubiousness (and possible illegality) of doing whatever it takes to win a local school board election and the complicity of certain segments of our UA student body for helping. Still, it is worth remembering that it was also UA students whose high ethical and moral standards that brought the voter misconduct actions to light.
UA student interns working with incumbent District 4 School Board Rep. Kelly Horwitz helped uncover the much-publicized incident of possible voter fraud, as well as others not yet publicly known. These students have been invaluable in supporting a representative who, in my opinion as a resident of District 4 and parent of three children in Tuscaloosa City Schools, has done much to vastly improve education in our community.
Furthermore, I campaigned for my candidate of choice outside the District 4 poll on election day and met many of the people coming to vote. Contrary to the depictions of entitled students blithely trading votes for rewards, most of my interactions with them, even those climbing out of limos, were positive. While many did not seem aware of the Horwitz’s accomplishments, they seemed interested.
The most uplifting moment came when a young lady stood up to reveal efforts in her sorority by Kirby and Garrison supporters to buy votes. While it was disturbing to hear of the ends to which Kirby and Garrison campaign supporters had gone, this young woman was incensed that officers in her house were telling her who to vote for and bribing her to do it.
I want to point out that, despite sweeping critiques being leveled at the greek system, this young woman is a member of a UA sorority and is not the only one standing up for an informed and untainted democratic process. Since then, other greek students have come forward, implicating at least two sororities and one fraternity. Another student in a UA sorority and friend of Kirby came to me and said that she, like many of her sorority sisters, intended to vote for him until she learned of the positive actions Horwitz has taken on behalf of the community. As she pointed out, many students have just not thought about what is at stake here and think that what is going on is a non-greek vs. greek thing. But it’s not.
I believe there are a few guilty parties but that the majority of students complicit in this electoral miscarriage participated out of ignorance. I have taught hundreds of UA students, greek and non-greek alike, and have not encountered a single student whose ethics or morality I questioned. I believe most of our students would feel the same way I do were they in my shoes, and that it was not their intent to infringe on Tuscaloosa’s education quality. I think there are many students who, in learning of the implications of their actions, regret the choice they made in casting votes for candidates they knew little about against candidates about whom they knew nothing.
My point in writing is to say that it is not too late. If you know of someone who told you to vote for a certain person and that you would receive rewards for doing so, come forward. If you have evidence that the candidates were complicit in this incentivizing or voter fraud, let someone know. If you committed any of these acts as a favor and now realize it was the wrong thing to do, fess up. You can atone by helping point authorities toward the few individuals responsible. Help fix this by demonstrating that we are – students and non-students alike – ethical, about our community.
Chris Lynn is an assistant professor in the department of anthropology.
