The Union Judiciary has postponed the election for the senator for racial minority and the Finance Board representative for racial minority students after accepting a case from two students challenging the positions on the grounds that both positions are discriminatory toward students who do not identify as minorities. The announcement came through an April 16 e-mail sent by Chief Justice of the UJ Rachel Graham Kagan '09 to campus publications.

The student petitioners, former Union Director of Community Development Ryan McElhaney '10 and Gideon Klionsky '11, suggested that the sections of the Union Constitution that deal specifically with the senator for racial minority and F-Board representative for racial minority are in conflict with a different section of the Union Constitution.

Article 2, sections 2 and 3 of the Union Constitution state the position of senator for racial minority students "shall be elected by a majority vote of all Union members who have declared themselves to the University as being racial minority students." Article 5, section 2 includes a similar statement about the position of F-Board member for racial minorities. McElhaney and Klionsky believe that these sections contradict Article 1, section 3 of the constitution, which states that the constitution "shall be enacted in accordance with all federal, state, and local laws, and University policies." According to the petitioners, the University policies and other laws prohibit racial discrimination.

The petitioners also say that the positions provide an unfair bias. "We don't have a senator for gay students, and a senator for Jewish students and a senator for students from New York," Klionsky said.

However, McElhaney wrote in an e-mail to the Justice that the focus of the case was on a constitutional issue rather than an "argument about the merits of the position, or students who have served in the position, or students that identify as racial minorities."

The election for the senator for racial minority was supposed to take place next Sunday. According to Union Secretary Tia Chatterjee '09, 22 percent of the undergraduate student body is eligible to vote for both positions. The election has now been postponed pending the outcome of the case.

McElhaney and Klionsky originally directed their case against the Elections Commission, after Chatterjee, who oversees the Elections Commission, denied Klionsky's request to run for the senatorial position because he does not identify as a minority. Chatterjee said that she did not think that the Elections Commission had done anything unconstitutional as it was just following the Union's constitution.

The UJ later changed the respondent of the case to the Student Union Government instead of the Elections Commission because "the case is essentially a challenge to the Student Union Consitution itself," wrote Graham Kagan in an e-mail to parties in the case.

The UJ hearing will take place tomorrow at 3:30 in the Shapiro Campus Center Art Gallery.

"[Justices who voted in favor of allowing the case to be heard] felt that it was a very important issue," Graham Kagan said. She said she did not think the UJ would attempt to rule on the Union Constitution's compliance with federal or state law. "However, I think it would be within our authority for us to recommend that [these positions] be looked at further in regard to [those laws]." Graham Kagan cited the administration as an example of a third party that the UJ can recommend to look into the matter further. She said considering the Union Constitution's compliance with Rights and Responsibilities was more within the UJ's ability to examine.

Klionsky said the petitioners do not expect the UJ to invalidate the constitution but that its finding "could provide input for the creation of an amendment to get rid of the position."

Village Senator Avi Rhodes '09, who plans to serve as co-council in the case for the petitioners, pointed out that there isn't a senate position especially available for students who are not from a minority background. Rhodes asked.

"This decision being handled by a couple of students within the UJ is kind of unfair; I feel it should be more democratic [by involving the entire student body]," current Senator for Racial Minorities Kamarin Lee '12 said.

Jean Souffrant (TYP), who had signed up to run for the position, said he was "very upset" to hear about the case. "The senator of racial minorities at Brandeis is the voice of the minority community at Brandeis," he said. Together with Kaamila Mohamed '11, Brandeis Black Student Organization co-president-elect, he has written an e-mail to multiple campus cultural groups urging members to tell Graham Kagan, that the UJ is not the proper venue to discuss the issue because there "will be no representation from the Brandeis racial minority community at the case."

However, Graham Kagan wrote in an e-mail to the Justice last night that each side will be able to submit a list of current undergraduate or TYP students or administrators to give legal arguments of no more than five minutes. Before, "we've certainly never allowed anyone from the community who has an interest in the case to participate," in this way Graham Kagan wrote.

Nineteen signatories, including Union President Jason Gray '10 and members of cultural clubs, have signed an amicus brief asking for the case to be dismissed. Graham Kagan responded to cultural group listservs by stating that the UJ "is seriously interested in engaging with the community of racial minority students on this campus to ensure that we have the fullest range of views and opinions represented" and encouraging minority students to give their input.