Black Student Movement
Elections Questioned
Defeated presidential candidate denounces alleged
last-minute, underground write-in campaign
By Myron B. Pitts
Staff
BlackStudentMovementelec-
tions ended last week, but junior
Dana Lumsden, who failed in his
second straight bid for BSM presi
dent, considered an appeal of elec
tion results and denounced what
he called a secret write-in cam
paign.
Amie Epps, the sophomore
president-elect, defeated Lumsden
by 44 votes to 41 votes in a write-
in election March 7. Epps also
won a majority of the vote in the
race for vice president but de
clined the position. Sophomore
Stormie Forte filled the position
last week.
Lumsden says the election
results should be overturned be
cause Epps was listed on the ballot
for vice president and was offered
two positions by the BSM Elec
tions Board.
Heaccused outgoing president
Sabrina Evans and others of con
ducting an underground write-in
campaign for Epps. “They made
me think I was running unop
posed,” Lumsden said. “They’ve
been planning this a long time.”
Evans denied any involvement
in the campaign but said she was
aware of its exislMice. “This is a
campaign that started long before
I heard about it,” she said. “I resent
the accusation.”
A BSM member who did not
want to be identified said Evans
called just before the election and
told the member to “spread the
word” about the write-in campaign
for Epps. Evans said a member
who vm)te in Epps for president
could vote him for vice president
as well, the member said.
“She said she was calling as a
friend and not BSM president,”
the member said. “She said that
the plan was to write in Amie’s
name. I didn’t spread the word.”
Evans said the anonymous
member may have misconstrued
what was said. Any conversations
about Epps were not part of a
planned campaign, she said.
Epps said he had little knowl
edge of the campaign on his be
half. A few people mentioned the
matter to him on election day, he
said.
Lumsden said Epps told him
both on the day before and the day
of the election that he was aware of
the campaign and would not ac
cept the presidency if it were of
fered him. And during spring
break, Lumsden said Epps indi
cated in a phone conversation that
he would turn down the jjresidency.
“I was angry,” Lumsden said.
“I wish he had been more up front
with me at the get-go.”
Epps said he never told
Lumsden he would not accept the
presidency. “I told him it was
something I needed to think about,”
he said.
BSM members acknowledged
the unannounced write-in cam
paign for Epps, but said they were
unaware of any particular people
calling members about it.
Laura Anderson, BSM minis
ter of information, said the presi
dential election results surprised
her but she had heard of a write-in
campaign for Epps.
“There is a network that started
and words got passed and things
happened,” Anderson said. “It
certainly wasn’t initiated by the
(BSM) Central Committee,” she
said.
Lumsden said he wanted to
appeal the election results because
the BSM Elections Board offered
Epps two positions. The parlia
mentarian, BSM faculty advisor
and another member to be named
later would have sat on the appel
late committee, he said.
B ut Harold Wallace, vice chan
cellor of student affairs and the
BSM’s advisor, said he would
probably not sit on a committee.
Instead, he sent Lumsden a letter
explaining that the BSM Elections
Board hears appeals within 48
hours of the election.
Lumsden said he did not ap
peal to the board because the matter
in question was the board’s deci
sion to offer Epps a choice of the
two offices. “You don’t appeal to
the body that voted against you,”
he said.
Lumsden’s appeal would have
been his second during this year’s
elections. Earlier, he unsuccess
fully appealed the Elections
Board’s decision to invalidate his
petition bearing the names of BSM
members who support his candi
dacy.
The board ruled uiuinimously
to invalidate the petition, which
they said was not turned into the
BSM office by the deadline of S
p.m. Feb. 15. Only the names of
candidates with valid petitions
were included on the ballot.
Lumsden said he feared his
petition would be stolen if left
unattended in the BSM office. He
left the petition in Carmichael
Residence Hall, sliding it under
the door of elections board co
chair Kim Williams.
Williams said the petitions
issued to candidates stated clearly
when and where to turn them in.
Because she did not get the form
until 7 p.m. that evening, the elec
tions board had no proof of when
Lumsden turned it in, she said.
An appeals committee com
prised of Evans, the outgoing co-
parliamentarians and Wallace
upheld the board’s decision.
Recent events concerning elec
tions have left BSM members with
ambivalent reactions. Evelyn Tol-
grass roots campaign for Amie.”
But Chris Brown, a member of
the BSM Elections Board, said he
did not know about the campaign
until election day. “I had not heard
of anybody else running for BSM
president,” he said.
Epps said he hoped the BSM
would move past the issue and
return to business. The organiza
tion will face new challenges in
improving race relations next year,
he said. “A lot of people in the
BSM are going on with the busi
ness of BSM,” he said.
Referring to the organization ’s
successful boycott of the Rite-Aid
drugstore on Franklin Street, Epps
said the B S M had a good year. The
BSM organized against the store
when an employee was overheard
saying African-American hair care
products were moved to the front
of the store because they were
among high-theft items.
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro
chapter of the National Associa
tion for the Advancement of Col
ored People joined the movement
and the hair care products were
placed back with other similar
products several weeks ago.
“The BSM has become a cred
ible organization,” Epps said. “I
don’t want this election to
downplay all the good things that
have happened and all the good
things planned for the future.”
Evans said the controversy was
overblown and unfair to Epps. “It
is detracting away from his elec
tion,” she said. “I’m just disgusted
that this is even being focused on.”
Wallace said elections would
Current Events
iver, former BSM special projects
tri-chairperson, called the pro-
Epps write-in campaign “under
handed, immature and sneaky.” It
seemed unlikely that Evans would
be involved, she said.
“It really gives me an ideaabout
the sad state of affairs for the B lack
Student Movement,” Toliver said.
The presidential elections
should have been hailed, she added.
Williams said she found noth
ing unethical about the Epps presi
dency campaign unless the candi
date or his campaign staff took
part People spoke of the possibil
ity of Epps being president weeks
prior to the election, and the cam
paign was not secret, she said.
“There was a buzz in the BSM
community,” she said. “I really
don’t think it was an overnight
be simple if the people involved
stuck to proper procedure. “Any
body can be a write-in candidate,”
he said. “I’m concerned that this
has become so complicated. In 18
years this is the first time I’ve had
any involvement with the elec
tions as a faculty advisor.”
The anonymous BSM member
who saidEvans had called on Epps’
behalf talked of being “sickened”
over the whole affair. “1 don’t think
I want to be a member of the BSM
next year.”
Said Dillard Massey, the BSM
parliamentarian-elect: “It’s a
shame we would have come to
this. Being a black organization,
we should have more unity than
we’ve displayed.”
Black Ink March 25,1991