It is a long-held truism in American politics that at their root, all politics are local. However, if the recent School Board District 4 election taught us anything, it’s that the politics may not be local, but the addresses sure are. While the allegations point toward terrible misdeeds committed by entities in the state and in the University, more shocking (and disgusting) is the University’s official response to the allegations against some of the student body.
Sunday, the administration sent an official email to students detailing the University’s official response to this travesty. Essentially, the University has chosen to punt on the issue and pretend as if nothing has happened, citing the lack of authority to investigate the outcome of elections. This is perhaps the worst stance the University could have taken and makes me sick to be a student here at The University of Alabama.
I am not asking for the University to start a witch hunt for voting records or attempt to usurp the authority of the state government to investigate the results of an election, but the University does have a moral obligation to shape the hearts and minds of the students here in attendance. The Preamble to the Code of Student Conduct states:
“The University has a vital interest in the character of its students, and therefore regards behavior at any location (on- campus or off-campus) as a reflection of a student’s character and fitness to be a member of the student body… thus creates an expectation of behavior that the University deems acceptable and is not detrimental to the University.”
I guess that “off-campus locations” refers to everywhere that isn’t the voting booth (or the bar after). Meddling in a municipal election isn’t funny; it is not cute. It is just plain and simply wrong. Working men, women and families are the people who are mostly affected by local government in Tuscaloosa. That goes one hundred fold when it comes to the School Board. Students have no real vested interest in the school system in Tuscaloosa, which goes to show the sheer hubris it took to attempt to interfere with an election that doesn’t affect you for apparently no other reason than to see if you could.
When President G. H. Denny coined The University of Alabama “The Capstone” he envisioned a center for not just learning, but the molding of young minds for the betterment of the state. Later the Capstone Creed was created to help guide that molding in an attempt to create scholars that embody “kindness, honesty, and respect” and to “foster individual and civic responsibility.”
The events that transpired around the District 4 race not only set the image of the University back another 20 years, but also drag Denny’s dream (and the Capstone creed) through the mud. The election fraud has officially brought to light what we already knew – The University of Alabama is a University as a whole that has been ruined by a group of self-entitled brats. If there is any light to come out of this situation it is that all these allegations came to light because of a few good people with consciences. It is those people who give me hope for this University.
Will Gonzalez is a sophomore majoring in education. His column runs biweekly on Tuesdays.
