This story has been updated. Read more here.
One of the items on the agenda of the UVUSA Student Council meeting held on Oct. 10, 2023, was the Election Packet 2023-2024 Review.
Kaela Lunt, an elections committee coordinator, introduced the list of proposed changes to the student body elections guidelines and policies. Among these are date updates, reviews of the clothing standards, and a discussion on the giveaways, donations, and their effect on the elections.
The first important item of discussion was the usage of UVU-branded apparel and its usage in advertisements during elections. Currently, it is not allowed to use any UVUSA or UVU clothing in general for the pre-campaign photos.
Lunt explained that this rule exists for the sake of transparency, and to highlight that the candidates are not sponsored by any student organizations.
“A lot of the time it gets a little bit confusing what UVU apparel is being sponsored by someone. Little things like that, where it’s tricky whether it is sponsored or not, so honestly, just for simplicity,” Lunt said. “Since it can get confused whether they are sponsored by a student organization, which is not allowed, so it is basically generalized just to make things clear.”
Another important topic at the meeting was the ethicality of giveaways and donations during the elections. Currently, there is no limit on the value of items used for giveaways, and it is impossible to check the sum donated to candidates.
Melanie Wolfe, a candidate for the Student Body President position in 2022, was present at the meeting and expressed her concerns regarding the demoralizing effect of giveaways and involvement of money in general in elections.
“I myself ran two years ago, and it was the first time I was aware of the influence of the giveaways. I myself don’t have the means to buy things, I was just providing the minimum required for my table, so it didn’t seem very equitable for me, and during that time it discouraged me, and after the elections, it discouraged a lot of community of UVU to even be a part of UVUFA,” Wolfe said.
No decisions were made that day, but most UVUSA Student Council members agreed that giveaways make them feel uncomfortable and would like to change the rules for them. In addition, Sarah Leavitt, the Parliamentarian of UVUSA, stated that they will think more about what can be changed with donations during elections.
“I believe the comment period was very productive,” Leavitt told The Review. “We got valuable feedback from both the council and the student body. We are making adjustments to the packet as we see fit and hope to have the council vote on it in the next couple weeks.”
