By Jeremy Ball, campaign supporter for Georgiana Sook —

SGA elections are a tumultuous time. At the end of it all, I will always appreciate that it is a reflection that students truly do care about the future of the University. Candidly, I think both candidates for SGA President would be amazing. Both Vishnu and Georgiana are wonderful people, and I’ve never through this process that the University would be at risk if either lead the helm. While I adamantly support Georgiana as one of her close friends, I am thankful that if she loses the SGA position will be in great hands.

What distresses me about this campaign season is that Georgiana has been framed in what I believe is a very unfair and dishonest light. Accordingly, I would like to offer a dissent, and a little context to a recent opinion piece posted on the Cardinal.

Georgiana did not attempt to limit, or attack The Cardinal. To shed context on the lawsuit mentioned, the question was not about what The Cardinal could write, but to what degree formal endorsements constitute campaigning, and where that material is allowed. SGA rules are incredibly complex, and candidates can (and have) been disqualified for campaigning in a residence hall. The question before the Court was whether endorsement materials are permitted in restricted campaign zones. SGA legal proceedings require that a party is named and that “request for relief” is included in a petition to the Court. Framing this as an attack against the press is wrong, but all documents will eventually be made public on the SGA website. There you can witness the plethora of lawsuits filed this campaign (of which Georgiana only filed one) that attempted to silence the voices of a number of people and organizations.

To frame Georgiana as a weak minded, voice silencer is abhorrent to me. Georgiana was trying to silence U of L voters? Where was the opinion piece when a candidate filed a lawsuit against Georgiana (a case later withdrawn) that sought to disqualify her for an infraction that did not happen? That would have silenced the voices of hundreds of students. I can guarantee you that Georgiana would have panicked at the idea of an endorsement in a resident hall, as she has been continually focused on running a fair campaign.

At the end of this election, you can vote for who you think is the better candidate, and we will all (hopefully) enjoy our spring breaks next week. But let’s not attack the integrity and character of one of the most genuine people at this campus.