ASUO Elections Board

Ruling on the grievance of Thomas Tullis v. Ben Bowman, Marshall Kosloff, Alex Titus and Emily Wu
[Decided March 20, 2014]

I
On 03/17/ 2014, ASUO member, and ASUO Presidential candidate Thomas Tullis (hereinafter Petitioner) submitted an elections grievance to the Elections Board. The grievance named several parties and made several allegations of elections rules violations. These named parties will be referred to by name, as several parties have engaged in different actions, and were contacted and investigated separately. The Elections Board considered the actions of the following parties, all ASUO members: ASUO Presidential Candidate Ben Bowman, Marshall Kosloff, Alex Titus, Emily Wu, Evan Roth, and Kendall Cheever. ASUO Constitution Section 13.5 grants the Elections Board authority to both hear complaints of violations, and promulgate election rules. Under the promulgated rules, Election Rule 1.5 grants the Elections Board the authority to interpret rules and investigate potential or alleged violations of said rules. Further, Election Rule 2.3 permits the Elections Board and Elections Coordinator to take all necessary actions to prevent the and/or to cause existing violations to cease. In addition, Election Rule 9.2 allows the Board to fully consider all potential violations, whether or not specific actions were alleged in an official grievance. With this authority in consideration, the ASUO Elections Board responded to the grievance filed by Petitioner with a full investigation of the facts, which are discussed in section II of this opinion. All these rules were approved by the Constitution Court in 5 C.C. (2013/2014) on February 17, 2014.

II
(Quotations are not verbatim; however, they are in the spirit and language of the conversation, as stated by the accused in their hearings.) Beginning fall term of 2013, Alex Titus and Marshall Kosloff were in talks with Thomas Tullis regarding the 2014 ASUO Elections. At this time, Kosloff was in the position of the presidential candidate, and Titus was in the position of campaign manager. Tullis was originally assigned the position of freshman hall captain on the Mighty Oregon campaign, which he accepted. Over the course of several months, Tullis took part in several aspects of the campaign of Mighty Oregon. He was even offered a position, sometime in February, to run on the slate of Mighty Oregon. At some point, Tullis removed himself from the campaign. This was due to his disagreement regarding specific policy positions with Ben Bowman. Tullis notified the Mighty Oregon campaign that he would no longer

be on the campaign on 3/5/14, after Bowman became the presidential candidate due to disagreements in policy with Bowman. At some point, Ben Bowman replaced Kosloff as the Mighty Oregon presidential candidate, and Kosloff and Titus assumed the position of Fraternity and Sorority Life co-coordinators. On 3/11/14, Tullis filed to run as a Presidential Candidate in the 2014 ASUO Elections. Following that announcement, Kosloff and Titus met with Tullis, and all three took part in a conversation lasting more than one hour. The subject of that conversation was an attempt to bring Tullis back onto the campaign and for him to drop his Presidential bid. On 3/12/14, Bowman, Kosloff and Titus, met with Tullis in his dorm room. This meeting was at the request of Tullis. Tulliss roommate was present for the entire conversation. Bowman, Kosloff, Titus, and Tullis met for over an hour, during which a variety of threats were made towards Tullis. These threats were couched as what could and would happen to him if he continued his candidacy. The threats included the following statements from Bowman: If you are on the ballot, these people who are voting for me this year are supposed to be your sides fucking bread and butter. They are supposed to carry this mother-fucker (referring to Titus) to the Presidency next year, and they are going to fucking hate you, said Ben Bowman. They are going to think you are a piece of shit ideologue who is just trying to fuck up the process. Later on during the conversation, Bowman offered a $1,000 bet that Tullis would not win the ASUO Election. Kosloff told Tullis, You are literally fucking hundreds of people, and it is the most selfish thing I have seen in my life. Kosloff added, You are doing this for no other reason than to literally masturbate on yourself. Tullis was told that no one would work with him in the ASUO if he went through with his campaign, because he was a joke candidate and that he would screw everyone over. Ben Bowman, previously the Opinion Editor for Emerald Media Group, then alluded to the fact that the Emerald would publish articles with the subject matter of how Tullis personally fucked over the Mighty Oregon campaign. He stated he had friends on the Emerald, and that there are fucking people on the Emerald who are on our side. Emerald editor in chief Sam Stites denies the content of Bowmans statements. Kosloff then said, You need to play this how the game works. Tullis was told he was a freshman that knows shit about the ASUO, and that he should have to demonstrate knowledge about the ASUO before he could file to run. Bowman alluded to the fact that Titus could lose a scholarship opportunity if the Mighty Oregon campaign was not successful. Bowman then blamed Tullis for this possibility, stating that Tullis was literally fucking over [his] friends. The Elections Board believes the above to be true based on testimony from multiple sources that were present for this conversation. Various discrepancies and admissions in testimony from Kosloff, Bowman, and Titus only further implicated them in these actions.

On 3/13/14, Tullis met with his fraternity President Grayson McCormick. Tullis was a new member going through the new member period in the fraternity Delta Upsilon. Currently, Delta Upsilon is working to colonize here at the University of Oregon. McCormick stated that he was approached by Emily Wu at his place of work. Wu currently serves as the ASUO Freshman Senator and is a candidate on the Mighty Oregon campaign for an ASUO Senate seat. Wu told McCormick that Tullis was engaged in a smear campaign to take out Ben Bowman and that it would have negative implications on Delta Upsilons reputation in the community. McCormick, as Delta Upsilons president, was concerned in the ability of Delta Upsilon to charter, based on the conversation with Wu. McCormick has testified that he personally never felt harassed or intimidated. McCormick told Tullis it would be best if Tullis resigned either from the campaign or from Delta Upsilon. Immediately following this meeting between Tullis and McCormick, Kosloff, Bowman and Titus met with several Delta Upsilon members, including McCormick. Tulliss candidacy was a main topic of discussion. It should be noted that this meeting was scheduled when Kosloff and Bowman contacted him. Emily Wu gave them McCormick's contact information, which she obtained during her previous conversation with him at his work. On 3/14/14, Tulliss girlfriend, Emily Doyen, received a call from Kendall Cheever. Cheever has been doing work for the Mighty Oregon campaign, and is a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority. During the call, Cheever told Doyen that Doyen would not be able to rush Gamma Phi Beta during the spring term because of Tulliss candidacy. Cheever told Doyen in a text message following the conversation that her statements were false, and that the folks on the Mighty Oregon campaign who had threatened such action were in the wrong and should be disciplined. She then said, Lets pretend that didnt happen. (Cheever has not responded to our request for any statements on the matter) Also on 3/14/14, McCormick received a request for a meeting from Kosloff. The two met at 1:30 p.m. Both Kyle Crair (a Delta Upsilon member) and Evan Roth (the freshman campaign manager for the Mighty Oregon campaign) were present at the meeting. At this meeting, a candidacy petition sheet, with no listed candidate, was presented. This sheet, despite lacking a candidate name, was already filled out with at least 11 signatures. Kosloff stated that the petition could be for Tullis if he dropped out, or for Grayson if Tullis did not drop out. Kosloff then asked Crair to sign the page of signatures, and told them that as long as they responded to them by 3 p.m., they could write his name on the sheet. On 3/15/14, Tullis resigned from his fraternity, because he felt that it would bring negative consequences on Delta Upsilon because of the statements from Bowman,

Kosloff, and Titus. It should be noted that at this point McCormick had changed his mind, and had told Tullis that they would support him no matter what decision he made. That same day at 3:53 p.m., Tullis called Titus, and this call was recorded and submitted as evidence. While the call was placed to Titus phone, it was Kosloff that spoke with Tullis for the majority of the phone call. During the call, Kosloff directly threatened, harassed, intimidated, and attempted to bribe Tullis. Multiple statements were made to this effect, all of which are clearly made on the recording. This includes (1) an affirmative statement that Tulliss girlfriend and himself could and would be blacklisted from Greek life, (2) that Tullis would not get hired on the Executive Staff should he continue to run, (3) that if he did drop out they would appoint him to a ASUO Finance Committee, and (4) that Tulliss fraternity might not be allowed to charter fully if he continued to run. In his hearing, Mr. Titus acknowledged that some of the comments made by Kosloff during the conversation were empty threats. On 3/16/14, Elections Board Coordinator MacGregor Ehlen received a call from Tullis notifying him of the situation and stating what was said in his grievance. On 3/17/14, an official grievance was filed by Mr. Tullis, which is included as evidence. On 3/17/14, Kosloff resigned from the Mighty Oregon campaign approximately two hours after his hearing with the Elections Board, admitting that he crossed the line. However, Kosloff was fully empowered by Bowman and the Mighty Oregon campaign to act as an official campaign representative during the meetings described above, both explicitly and implicitly.

III
We believe the multiple rules violations found in this grievance to be of the most egregious character due to the aggravating circumstances surrounding each violation. Pursuant to rule 6.1, punishments will be given in accordance to degree of affiliation. The high degree of affiliation between Bowman and Kosloff adds to the seriousness of this grievance. Bowman and Kosloff are fraternity brothers and housemates. Until a few weeks ago, Kosloff was slated to be the President for the Mighty Oregon campaign. According to testimony, the Kosloff and Bowman strategized together on the campaign before and after Bowman stepped into the candidacy for president. Such a high degree of affiliation shows either negligence to the rules by Bowman, or outright collusion. From conflicting testimonies, we believe the latter to be true. Emily Wus affiliation to the campaign as a slate member and current senator working with other high profile members of the campaign on the senate and her knowledge that Bowman would attempt to contact McCormick before the meeting took

place shows that she was privy to the knowledge that Bowman wanted Tullis to stop his campaign. Rule 7.13.1 was violated multiple times and is one of the most egregious violations of the campaign. It was violated when Bowman and/or Kosloff told Tullis that (1) he would be blacklisted from the ASUO, (2) he would be blacklisted from Greek life, (3) either Bowman or former associates of Bowman would write negative articles in the Daily Emerald about Tullis, (4) his fraternity would not be able to charter if he continued to run, and (5) when Cheever told Tulliss girlfriend that she would not be able to rush Gamma Phi Beta because of Tulliss campaign. Separately, each is a serious form of intimidation. Pursuant to Elections Rule 9.5, aggravating factors will lead to an increase in the severity of the violation. There is a pattern of immoral and unethical behavior present in the Mighty Oregon campaign. Since resigning Marshall Kosloff has claimed that he acted alone in the intimidation, telling the Emerald This whole issue really comes back to me in many ways, and That phone call was with me. I didnt speak with Bowman, Titus or any of the VPs about how to approach the phone call. However, this runs counter to testimony from Alex Titus that Ben Bowman gave Kosloff and Titus the green light to try to get Tullis to stop running. In fact, Bowman saw the techniques Kosloff was using on Tullis in their dorm room conversation and took part in the same techniques, implicitly giving Kosloff permission to use similar intimidation techniques. The board sees it necessary and proper that when orders like these come from the presidential candidate, that candidate ought to be removed. Allowing candidates to attempt to force out other candidates in ASUO campaigns runs counter to the philosophy of the ASUO, that it be an open and safe pace to exchange differing opinions and be an inclusive community, and warrants removal from the ballot. Intimidation on behalf of members of the Mighty Oregon campaign, detailed above in the discussion of 7.13.1, shows how members of the Mighty Oregon campaign also violated rule 9.8. The testimony of Tullis and Schwoebel shows that actions of the members of the Mighty Oregon campaign were intentional and malicious in attempting to get Tullis to cease his campaign. The promise of a slate position or later appointment by members of the campaign to Tullis in exchange for him ending his campaign exhibits bribery. The Elections Board also finds that Emily Wu took part in harassment and intimidation when she approached Grayson McCormick at his place of work, McCormick has since stated that her confrontation at his place of work made him feel uncomfortable and taken aback. The fact that intimidation was not only directed at Tullis, but at both his girlfriend and fraternity brothers in attempt to induce Tullis to leave the race, further aggravates the violations of 7.13.1 and 9.8, and make removal even more justified. Rules 1.1 and 1.2 were all violated in conversations and interactions between Bowman, Titus, Wu, and Kosloff when dealing with McCormick and Tullis when they violated the open and democratic spirit of ASUO elections, wanting Tullis to withdraw from the race because he was an inexperienced freshman.

Rule 3.4 was violated when Kosloff provided to Crair a petition with no candidate listed and asked him to sign without explaining what it was and then telling McCormick that the petition could be his if he wanted it. The board holds fraudulent signature gathering to be a flagrant violation of the rules, and shows a willingness of the members of the Mighty Oregon campaign to mislead students to their own personal gain. Rule 6.4 was violated when Kendall Cheever was brought in as a connection to Gamma Phi Beta in an attempt to scare Tullis out of running; Cheever threatened Tulliss girlfriends eligibility to join the sorority. Wu and Cheever discussed rumors about Tullis and Doyen, and it is obvious that after their discussion something was said that made Cheever feel the need to contact Doyen and tell her that Tullis campaign would make it more difficult for her to join Gamma Phi Beta. Our evidence does not show that Wu directly instructed Cheever to contact Doyen, though their close personal relationship and conversation are directly linked to these intimidation tactics. Cheever has not responded to the elections board to answer why she made contact with Doyen. It was again violated when members of campaign alleged that members of the Inter-Fraternity Council at the University of Oregon would use their power to vote against chartering Delta Upsilon. Finally, 6.4 was again violated when Bowman allowed Kosloff and Titus to intimidate Tullis out of running. Pursuant to rule 9.8.1 the board finds it not only within their power, but also prudent to enact the punishments laid out in section IV.

IV
In conclusion, the ASUO Elections Board holds the following, effective immediately: 1. ASUO Presidential Candidate Ben Bowman is disqualified from appearing on the ballot in the 2014 ASUO Elections. The Executive Ticket for Mighty Oregon will be allowed to replace their Presidential candidate with one of the current registered Vice Presidential candidates. The Mighty Oregon campaign will not be allowed to replace the Vice President that move up to the Presidential position, but may appoint someone to this position after the election if their candidacy is successful. 2. Senate Seat 12 Candidate Emily Wu is disqualified from appearing on the ballot in the 2014 ASUO Elections. 3. Due to the severity of these actions, the ASUO Elections Board will be forwarding all information gathered as part of this investigation to the Office of Student Conduct.