UnsafeU Press Release on ASUU Elections and First Amendment Rights

February 23, 2023

For immediate release

We are deeply disturbed by the February 21, 2023 decision issued by the ASUU Supreme Court which found VKW and Karabegovic Ticket guilty of “seeking an endorsement from a Non-Recognized Student Organization” [1]. We believe this case was unfounded, capricious, and threatens students’ First Amendment rights.

A Brief History of UnsafeU ASUU Elections Report Cards

UnsafeU has now published three sets of report cards between 2020–2022 for ASUU elections candidates. We recognized early in the creation of our organization that for change to happen at the University of Utah, students needed to have a united front and be involved in all levels of decision making. We also wanted to ensure that students had at least one reliable source of information where they could assess those running for office and select candidates who aligned with their personal philosophy on safety.

In the first year, we used publicly available information for tickets to create a scorecard and release an endorsement. We received valuable feedback from candidates and voters that they found the process for how we assessed platforms to be opaque. In response, we revamped our report card process in year 2 and developed a comprehensive survey which we offered to all tickets running. We deeply believe in accountability and fairness, so having a clear and transparent process for our report cards was important to us. The survey method is commonly used by other non-profit organizations to allow the public to track elected representatives. In using a survey process, we hoped to standardize the information we considered, ensure that all tickets were able to elaborate or clarify their positions, and that all tickets benefitted from engaging in our elections report card. In fact, each year, we hear from candidates that this survey has been a valuable tool to help them discuss and think about safety through a variety of lenses they may not have considered before. We repeated our survey the following year. In 2022, we issued our report card findings but did not issue an endorsement. In all years, all students evaluating tickets and their survey responses through UnsafeU were matriculated and enrolled at the University of Utah. We have never had non-students issue votes or scores in our report card process and never will.

2023 Election Cycle

On February 6, 2023, we sent our annual survey to the three tickets running in this year’s ASUU executive election, emphasizing that the survey, as it always has been, is completely optional. We informed all three tickets that the forms were due back on February 13th for the report card. We extended the due date for the surveys and confirmed that we had received submissions on February 15th. We learned on February 16th, through multiple sources, that there was confusion about whether or not UnsafeU would be issuing endorsements. We sent a message back to all three tickets clarifying that we would “not be releasing any official endorsements,” that our report card “will merely be a voting guide with information and should not be considered an “endorsement”” and that we would “ensure that it is clear to the public as well as upon the release of our report card that these are not endorsements.” We also reiterated that all three tickets would be evaluated on the report card. Following this message, VKW and the Karabegovic tickets followed up and requested that only publicly available information be used for all three tickets, which we confirmed would be the case.

We want to be clear that at no point did any ticket ask for or expect an endorsement from UnsafeU and UnsafeU took due diligence steps to make sure it was clear for all tickets that no endorsement would be offered.

Free Speech and First Amendment Rights

In addition to providing the student body with a clear narrative about our report cards process and its history, we also want to briefly speak about the core reason why we are issuing this press release. This Supreme Court decision and ASUU election policies are inherently undemocratic and violate students’ First Amendment rights.

UnsafeU has intentionally chosen to not register as a Recognized Student Organization for several reasons. First, all RSOs are subject to mandatory reporting requirements, which means that becoming an RSO would jeopardize the confidentiality of disclosures made to our account. Further, all records, including our Instagram account would likely be subject to GRAMA requests which would also compromise confidentiality. Second, we want to ensure that we are able to remain uncensored by the university administration. The best way to ensure this is to remain non-recognized. Third, we want to maintain complete autonomy and independence from the university. Many students mistrust the university and the information it provides. By remaining unaffiliated with the U, we can provide assurance to students that our information is not motivated or influenced by the university. For these reasons, remaining non-registered is how we believe we can best serve student safety interests. We also want to illuminate the fact that the University of Utah has clearly guaranteed “access to First Amendment rights” for non-registered [2] student groups.

Having a policy that restricts non-recognized groups from being able to endorse is a restriction on our First Amendment rights and unfairly burdens tickets with impossible expectations for compliance. Taken literally, this would require each ticket to verify student ID numbers in any action for fear that they may be inadvertently “seeking an endorsement” from a non-RSO. In addition, certain Affiliated organizations (namely Sport Clubs) are required to allow non-matriculated students into their group’s membership [3]. This election restriction is therefore NOT about ensuring that only matriculated students are engaged in the elections process. In this instance, Sport Clubs would also be explicitly prohibited from issuing endorsements. This policy is meant to chill free speech of the student body.

We respect that some tickets and individuals may want to connect with specific students or may not want to engage with our organization. We have never denied anyone the opportunity to speak with a student representative within UnsafeU if they expressed that preference. No tickets requested to speak with a student representative directly this year.

This being said, the ASUU Elections Report Card, survey, and scoring process are all forms of student expression and free speech. We believe that the ASUU policy regarding “off-campus endorsements” [4] in conjunction with today’s ruling, will have a chilling effect on candidates running for office, students seeking information from potential elected officials, and students wishing to make commentary on ASUU and the university in regard to campus safety issues.

Further, we are alarmed to learn that all communication by ASUU candidates is censored by ASUU and staff at Student Leadership and Involvement. Candidates should be able to speak freely, so long as it does not otherwise break university policies, state, or federal laws. ASUU elections restrictions have created an undemocratic elections process wherein non-elected administrative staff and Presidential appointees shape the discourse and rhetoric of student elections.

We believe the evolution of ASUU elections policies as well as internal communications policies within ASUU has gradually restricted student First Amendment rights. We must stand together to ensure that the student voice on campus remains unrestricted and uncensored in all forms. Student safety absolutely depends on strong democratic institutions and free speech.

Call to Action

1. Vote. ASUU elections have historically had less than a 10% voter turn out. The results of this election will determine the free speech rights of future ASUU candidates as well as the rest of the student body. Please inform yourself about all three tickets and vote in this election.
2. Contact your current ASUU Senator or Representative and demand that they consider legislation to reform the ASUU election policies and policy approval process.

Footnotes:

[1] Source: uofustudentgov Instagram post from February 22, 2023

[2] We interpret “non-registered” as “non-recognized” since “registered” is a student organization classification. We interpret this phrasing as an error on the page that has not been updated.

[3] Sport Clubs are required to allow “Associate Members, including any member of the University of Utah community holding a valid CRS Membership” (p. 5). The University of Utah allows CRS memberships to include faculty and staff, extension students, correspondence study students, Fort Douglas, Alumni, Significant Other, Children, Workshop or Conference participants, Donor Club members, and Retirees/Emeritus members of the community (source: https://campusrec.utah.edu/membership-services/memberships.php)

[4] The Supreme Court has issued an interpretation of “off-campus” that differs from the definition provided in university policy (Policy 7–010), which refers to the spatial relationship between the University of Utah and other entities. The court ruled that “off-campus” is synonymous with “non-RSO.”