The Student Union Judiciary passed down a pluralist decision ruling in favor of the Student Union in the case of Klionsky and McElhaney v. Student Union and instructing the Union to hold elections for Racial Minority Senator as soon as possible, but a majority decision regarding the permanent existence of the RMS seat was not reached, according to UJ Chief Justice Rachel Graham Kagan '09. Associate Justices Julia Sferlazzo '09, Judah Marans '11 and Matt Kriegsman '11 were in favor of the Union; however, Justice Jordan Rothman '09 was in favor of the petitioners. Graham Kagan was partly in favor of the plaintiffs because she believed anyone should be allowed to run for the positions held for racial minority students but that voting for the seats should still be restricted to minority students. Sferlazzo, Marans, Kriegsman and Graham Kagan stated in the decision, "We direct the Secretary of the Student Union to hold the election for Racial Minority Senator as soon as possible in accordance with the Constitution." Marans, Kriegsman and Graham Kagan also directed the Union president to ensure that a constitutional review process is scheduled for the next academic year to address the issue of the positions in detail.

Last Wednesday the UJ heard the case after petitioners Gideon Klionsky '11 and former Union Director of Community Development Ryan McElhaney '10, filed a complaint after Klionsky was not allowed to run for the position of RMS. According to Klionsky and McElhaney, the position violated the supremacy clause of the Student Union Constitution, Section 3, which states, "This Constitution shall be enacted in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws, and University policies, but the Union Government shall not be responsible for the enforcement of such laws and policies." McElhaney and Klionsky originally directed their case against the Union Elections Commission after Union Secretary Tia Chatterjee '09, who oversees the commission, denied Klionsky's request to run for the senatorial position because he does not identify as a minority. However, Graham Kagan later ruled that the petitioners were challenging the Union constitution, not a body of the Union.

"[Justices who voted in favor of allowing the case to be heard] felt that it was a very important issue," Graham Kagan told the Justice last week. Graham Kagan attempted to engage the Brandeis community in the trial by permitting each side to bring forth undergraduates, Transitional Year Program students or administrators to present legal arguments.



The petitioner was represented for the majority of the trial by McElhaney. Lead counsel for the the Student Union was Union Director of Communications Jamie Ansorge '09; assistant counsels were Matthew Kipnis '11 and Castle Senator Nathan Robinson '11.

The plaintiff argued that the UJ had the right to hear the case because it dealt directly with the Union Constitution and that all students should be allowed to run and vote for the RMS position because to dictate otherwise was unconstitutional based on the supremacy clause. The defense argued that the UJ had no jurisdiction in the case because it involved a standard set in the Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook. The defense stated that only the University Board of Student Conduct has jurisdiction over Rights and Responsibilities standards.

The Student Union argued that the RMS position does not have the effect of "unreasonably interfering with a person's education or work performance by creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment in which to work, study, or live," a standard outlined in section 7.4 of Rights and Responsibilties.

At the hearing the defense called Jess Kent '09, chairwoman of the UBSC, who testified that only the Board of Student Conduct has the jurisdiction to hear and decide on cases involving Rights and Responsibilities.

Chatterjee testified that the University registrar, rather than the Student Union, determines students are registered as racial minorities. Klionsky explained that although he could declare himself as a minority student, he chose not to do so because he believed that a person of any race should be able to run for the position.

J.V. Souffrant (TYP), Kaamila Mohammed '11 and Ariela Silverstein-Tapp '09 spoke about why they believed the RMS position is important to the minority community and their personal feelings on why it should be kept.

Executive Senator Andrew Brooks '09 spoke on behalf of the petitioners, saying that he believed that the case should be decided not on the emotions involved but on the letter of the law and that he believed, under the law, the RMS position was exclusionary. Taisha Sturdivant '11, a minority student, spoke on behalf of the defense and said that she had had many experiences that convinced her of the need for a RMS and that the position was very important to the racial minority community on campus. She added "I will say that I do not think the RMS position has to be ingrained in the Student Union forever. That is very dependent on the ways in which Brandeis progresses. As for now, the position is necessary."

McElhaney and Klionsky could not be reached for comment by press time.

In an e-mail to the Justice, Ansorge said, "It is my hope that the issues raised at this trial will be explored further during next year's constitutional review process. If the constitutional review process were to propose a change to the RMS positions, a schoolwide vote on the amendment can be held. I believe that is the only democratically just and constitutionally acceptable means of changing these positions."

Ansorge added, "I believe that the RMS positions have played an important role within the Union. However, it is arguable whether or not it makes sense to specifically have RMS positions and not a [representative] from the LGBT community or for left-handed students like me."

Brooks said in a later interview that he hoped that Brandeis might one day reach a point where there would be no need for a RMS because all senators would be responsive to all different groups within their constituencies.