The Residence Hall Association elected a new president and vice president Monday, after nearly four weeks of debate and controversy.
Current RHA President Michael Krom said the Executive Board chose to accept the April 25 re-vote results and named Nathan Boudreaux and Doug Fields as RHA president and vice president.
During the re-vote in Herget Hall and the Horseshoe, the Executive Board disqualified Boudreaux and Fields although they received 53.88% of the vote.
A monitor from the Elections Commission reported seeing six campaigners for the Boudreaux/Fields ticket when election guidelines allow only four campaigners at a time anywhere on campus.
Fields said the persons in question were bringing bottles of water to campaigners and were not actively campaigning.
The RHA held a hearing April 30 after its last meeting of the semester to discuss the election’s events.
Krom previously told The Reveille he wanted to sort everything out to make a fair, educated decision.
Fields said board members listened to both sides of the story at the hearing.
Krom said 11 students were interviewed, and the board privately examined the facts over the weekend before reaching the decision.
“We determined that we couldn’t prove or disprove what happened,” Krom said. “There was not enough evidence to disqualify them.”
Since the first election April 9, several appeals and decisions were made regarding results, guidelines and disqualifications, but Krom said the results no longer will be debated.
“The people have spoken and chosen their new RHA president and vice president,” Krom said.
Opposing candidates Chris Broussard and Lauren Fontenot could not be reached by press time.
However, Broussard, the RHA webmaster, posted a farewell letter on the Web site Thursday in which he addressed the election results.
“I do not feel confident for the future of RHA and believe RHA will take a giant leap backward next year,” the letter said. “It makes me sad. I think we’re all aware that this election had nothing to do with effort, dedication or merit.”
Fields said he thinks the board made a fair decision, and he and Boudreaux look forward to working with RHA in the fall semester.
Krom said Boudreaux and Fields likely will be sworn into office next week.