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Dear Editor

The article “Senators question politics of Union presidential race” in the March 27th, 2009 publication of the Hoot portrayed a very different situation from what actually occurred by taking all of my quotes out of context. It attempted to draw a relationship between a pattern of events that were, in reality, based on false assumptions.

As many of us know, running for Student Union President is a very serious matter. I had been approached by a few senators who suggested that I consider a run for the position; however, it was not something I had planned on doing during my junior year. Nevertheless, I scheduled two separate meetings with [Student Union President] Jason Gray [’10] and [Director of Community Advocacy] Andy Hogan [’11], both of whom were incredibly helpful when explaining the role and commitment of the presidency.

What the article failed to articulate correctly was that those two meetings were extremely valuable and very much appreciated. It gave me a much deeper understanding of what the Presidency entails and the security that, if I won, I knew I would have help for the transition.

I agreed completely with Jason’s advice; my inexperience in the Student Union was something that I knew was a legitimate issue, and one that Jason expressed was his concern as well. But I never once thought that he was purposefully dissuading me from running as a candidate. Rather, I felt that Jason was open, approachable, and honest. As the article mentioned, I would have been upset if I were mislead – and I am sure anybody that in my situation would want to know if they were as well. But such a situation was raised in my interview with The Hoot journalist as a hypothetical, not one that I, even for a second, took seriously. The decision not to run for President was my own, and mine alone.

Matthew Kriegsman ’11

Associate Justice of the Student Union Judiciary