The group of student government leaders who were calling for the resignation of Valentino Caruso from the Elections Board (ELBO) decided yesterday to drop the complaint it had filed with the Committee on Student Life (CSL).
Caruso stays on as the sole member of ELBO, after the other two people on the board resigned after a miscommunication regarding the elections for the eight freshmen senator seats and one open TCU Judiciary (TCUJ) seats.
The student government members - the executive board of the TCU Senate and two chairs of the TCUJ - decided that acting on the accusations would complicate the matter further.
"We felt that it would be in best interest of student government as a whole to move forward and drop the complaint," TCUJ co-chair Mike Ferenczy said.
Ferenzy called Caruso yesterday afternoon to tell him the complaint was dropped.
"I think it's a step in the right direct for student government that they've given me a mandate to do my job," Caruso said. "I take the action of the dropped CSL case as a vote of confidence in the Elections Board."
Caruso speculated that his role in preparing for today's rescheduled election may have led to the dropped complaint. "I think they are pleased with how the current election is being conducted," he said.
But TCU Senate President Eric Greenberg said that Caruso's conduct had nothing to do with the decision. "Regardless, he was going to run [today's election] anyway," Greenberg said. Dropping the complaint "was better for student government."
After the complaint requesting Caruso's resignation was filed, Caruso publicly refused to leave his post, and he wrote in a viewpoint printed in Tuesday's Daily that he was "unwilling to take the fall."
Student government and the CSL plan to appoint four new members to ELBO within the next week. To fill the Senate seat recently vacated by Michele Shelton, an election must be held within the next two weeks.
ELBO was previously the only body of student government that did not undergo official training, but the Office of Student Activities plans to train the new ELBO members in light of recent and past mishaps.
Caruso held a "Meet the Candidates" forum in Dewick last night, where freshman candidates stood at the dining hall's entranceway and solicited students to vote for them today. While some candidates complained that the event was disorganized and poorly planned others thought it would improve visibility for the election.
