WEDNESDAY
OCTDBER 12, 2D16
nnOTIUP ITO llflTC- A 3-part examination of Elon’s evolving
unbllnb Hu VUIt. role in the political process
Administrators
balance political
views, visibility
Bryan Anderson
Enterprise Manager
grBryanRAndersrrn
The higher up a
faculty member
is in the ranks,
the more
discouraged
they are from
expressing their
political views.
A t Eton University, deans and above are con
sidered top-level administrators. The higher
up a faculty member is in the ranks, the
more discouraged they are from expressing
their political views.
It is clear that students and most professors
do not represent the university’s perspective. For
certain administrators, though, there is a fine line
between speaking for them
selves and speaking for Elon.
Raghu Tadepalli is con
sidered a high-level admin
istrator as he is the dean of
the Martha and Spencer Love
School of Business. He is a
registered Democrat and has
been highly critical of Trump
throughout the course of the
election.
Since the end of the pri
maries, Tadepalli has written 12 original hveets
about the Republican nominee — the majority of
which were published in August.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit institution, the univer
sity is not allowed to speak out on pohtical matters,
according to Elon Provost Steven House. While
Tadepalli’s Twitter bio makes it abundantly clear
that the views expressed are his alone, there could
still be a conflict of interest.
“The risk of appearance of institutional endorse
ment may be greater when the speaker is a high-level
university administrator,” House said in an email.
Tadepalli said he received an email from House
on Aug. 16 informing him of the university’s stance
on political activism within the administration.
Since then, he has declined to tweet overt pohtical
opinions.
“While you may have seen my social media
postings, they predate the communication from
Dr. House that you refer to,” Tadepalli said in an
email. “Since receiving the communication from Dr.
House, I have refrained from commenting on any
aspect of the election. I was unaware of the policy,
and since becoming aware, I do not want to do or
say anything that runs counter to university policy.”
It is common for administrators to face different
treatment than faculty and staff on such matters, but
it is noteworthy that their exercise of free speech is
more limited compared to lower-ranking colleagues.
“I would never tell anybody what they could or
what they couldn’t say,” House said. “I would say,
‘You don’t want to put the university at risk.’”
There is no formal pohcy regarding an adminis
trator’s ability to speak openly about their pohtical
beliefs, according to Lambert. Instead, the univer
sity strongly encourages its administrators to pause
and consider how their words could reflect on the
university.
For Lambert, the boundaries are clear. His name
is practically synonymous with Elon, so he tries to
refrain from publicly expressing his personal poht
ical views. For other administrators, it is difficult to
distinguish what can and cannot be said.
“If Raghu were to be commenting on an eco
nomic issue, an issue pertaining to his area of exper
tise as the dean of the business school with regard
to any candidate ... [and he] put a tweet out there
that gets people thinking, I think that s very much
a fair game thing to do in his realm of responsibility
within the institution,” Lambert said.
“I think that you would want to be very cautious
about putting out a tweet that said. So-and-so is
an idiot. I can’t beheve MORE ONLINE
he said this.’ ... The
problem is there are not
bright lines in these situ
ations.”
Students find voice in civic engageme
Bryan Anderson
Enterprise Manager
@BryanRAntlerson
E lon University’s involvement in
the political process has evolved
dramatically throughout the last
few years, and students have been
given numerous engagement opportuni
ties. From voting to participating in stu
dent debates, the possibilities are virtually
limitless.
Elon Votes! was formed before the 2014
midterm elections with the goal of increas
ing voter turnout and encouraging stu
dents to make informed decisions.
Bob Frigo, faculty adviser for Elon
Votes! and associate director of the
Kemodle Center for Service Learning and
Community Engagement, discussed the
need to simplify the registration process
for students.
“We want students to vote at the end of
the day, and we are trying to make things
as easy as possible for students to cast that
ballot, whether it be here in North Carolina
or from the state of their permanent resi
dence,” Frigo said.
Elon Votes! has already registered
more than 800 students since August and
has sponsored several on-campus events,
including the first presidential debate
watch party, which saw 300 people packed
inside the Moseley Student Center.
Other groups have recently emerged to
increase student involvement in and dia
logue on the political process.
The Political Engagement Work Group
— comprised of faculty and staff, students
from the Kernodle Center, Elon Votes!
representatives and several other groups
on campus — is only a year old. It formed
as a nonpartisan collaborative team in
2015 with the purpose of implementing
voter education activities and increasing
engagement.
There is also a smaller administrator-led
Political Activities Working Group that
approves candidate appearances, campaign
events, voter registration events and uni
versity-sponsored political forums.
Carrie Eaves, assistant professor
of political science, is a member of the
Political Engagement Work Group and the
Council on Civic Engagement and recently
took over as the Elon coordinator for the
National Campaign for Political and Civic
Engagement.
Eaves recognizes how the chmate of the
current election might turn some students
off from becoming engaged in the political
process. Even so, she said other students
might feel more impassioned and elevate
their voices because of the heated election.
“It’s probably a wash,” Eaves said.
“Some people are turned off by the process
because of those high unfavorable ratings,
and some people may be more invigorated
because they really dislike one candidate or
the other.”
Students are also taking the iii^
to create opportunities for their [®J
participate in political forums.
Sophomore Jay Schulte created thl
Politics Forum (EPF) in 2015 «tf
hope of bridging growing polaritaij
addressing issues of importance to#
students.
“I saw an opportunity for a grtet
could bring eveiyune together," SI
said. “Part of the issue I have tvitlip
is it creates a hive mind sometimes;
important because it allows for opgs
It allows for disagreement. And 18:|
stay as nonpartisan as possible."
Before Schulte arrived on cam:
forum was under a different
essentially served as a discussion
very few members. Within the [t
EPF has become a more recognii
let for students to come together:
serious issues during a heated 201l|
year.
EPF became more rvidely lii^
spring 2016 after hosting a sK,
debate. With the general election,
approaching, the student group del
hold its first debate of the fall. M«i|
100 students attended the event
The forum is now in disci^
with student organizations on of
including College Democrats, If
Republicans and Young AmetiiC
Liberty, to host a second student dd|
late October. k
POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT
from cover
t for si
Jon Dooley, assistant vice president w
Life, sees the new Schar Center as the
which Elon will host those types of events inWj
“There’s a lot that goes into hosting thosefl
events: the candidate schedules, the moderaWt
ules, but also having the venue that has the teii ^
ical capacity and also the availability to
like that,” Dooley said. “We think the Schar C®1
give us that opportunity.”
The Schar Center, which could be r
as fall 2018, will seat more than 5,000
President Leo Lambert said he hopes
will make Elon more competitive if it deci es
to hold a 2020 presidential debate. ,
“We’ve not had the facility to do it before J
the Schar Center, I think, presents us with a ^
that... I don’t see any reason why we co
valiant try to do that in 2020, Lambert sai
Longwood University, which has a sm
population than Elon, recently host
dential debate. Lambert and several o
point to this example to demonstrate V
suchasElonhasalegitimatecha^^
tors
institution
a major political debate.