The Mr./Ms. TCU competition isn’t exactly gaining popularity from the student body this year due to the disqualification of three Ms. TCU candidates last week.Seniors Liz Hamner, Jill Rutherford and Katie Williams said their friends created Facebook groups on their behalf without their knowledge and were then disqualified for solicitation.
According to Mr./Ms. TCU guidelines, “Solicitation of votes by any method, including Facebook and MySpace, is grounds for disqualification.” The guidelines do not, however, specify who can and cannot solicit votes. If the guidelines were intended to include every student, administrators should have introduced these regulations in a campuswide e-mail or on TCU Announce.
Not only is it unjust to penalize nominees for actions that were out of their realms of control, but it is also unreasonable to restrict candidates from campaigning for the Mr. or Ms. TCU title – a salutation that is presented to the nominee who is deemed most worthy by the student body to represent the university.
How are students expected to make an honest assessment of candidates if they don’t have a profile to base a candidate’s merit on?
Candidates are required to include organization membership, employment, community service, philanthropic activities, honors and awards on their rÂsum as part of the selection process – information that is not available to the student body but would be helpful in evaluating a candidate.
During Student Government Association elections, candidates utilize all available means to slather their names and slogans across campus. Candidates hand out neon flyers in The Main, speak at organizations’ weekly meetings and have even brought a pony on campus.
In a competition where 40 percent of the outcome is based on popular vote, why shouldn’t candidates for Mr./Ms. TCU be able to set up groups on Facebook or MySpace to educate students about whom they can vote for to represent the university?
Editor in chief Amy Hallford for the editorial board
