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<\/p>\nRick Perry Charges Texas A&M\u2019s First Openly Gay Student President with Stealing Election from GOP Fundraiser\u2019s Son<\/b><\/p>\n
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Jaws dropped\u00a0across Texas yesterday after Secretary of Energy Rick Perry charged Bobby Brooks, the first openly gay student body president at Texas A&M<\/a>, with stealing the election from a Trump fundraiser.<\/p>\n The Washington Post reports<\/a>:<\/p>\n Perry,\u00a0the country\u2019s current energy secretary chose to plunge into campus politics, claiming publicly that Brooks stole the election from another student.<\/p>\n That student, Robert McIntosh, is the son of a prominent Republican fundraiser in Dallas who campaigned for Trump during his presidential election.<\/p>\n Perry\u2019s accusation drew astounded responses from the university, Texas lawmakers and a professor, who said it was \u201cextraordinary\u201d that a federal official would involve himself in an issue as hyperlocal as student government elections.<\/p>\n Perry\u2019s charge came in the form of an op-ed for the Houston Chronicle<\/em>.\u00a0Wrote Perry<\/a>:<\/p>\n As Texas\u2019 first Aggie governor and as someone who was twice elected Yell Leader of Texas A&M University, I am deeply troubled by the recent conduct of A&M\u2019s administration and Student Government Association (SGA) during the Aggie student-body president elections for 2017-2018.<\/p>\n When I first read that our student body had elected an openly gay<\/a> man<\/a>, Bobby Brooks, for president of the student body, I viewed it as a testament to the Aggie character. I was proud of our students because the election appeared to demonstrate a commitment to treating every student equally, judging on character rather than on personal characteristics.<\/p>\n Added the Chronicle<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n In an extraordinary submission to the Houston Chronicle\u2019s Editorial Board<\/a>, the energy secretary also suggested that Bobby Brooks\u2019 victory was engineered by the Student Government Association in a quest for diversity on the traditionally conservative campus.<\/p>\n Brooks was declared the winner in the campus election by the SGA even though he came in second in the vote count to Robert McIntosh , who is white and was disqualified by student election officials.<\/p>\n McIntosh was disqualified on charges that he did not provide receipts for glow sticks used in a campaign video<\/a>. He also faced charges of voter intimidation, which were later dismissed on appeal.<\/p>\n The student body\u2019s Judicial Court, Perry said, \u201cadmitted that the charges were minor and technical, but incredibly, chose to uphold the disqualification.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe desire of the electorate is overturned, and thousands of student votes are disqualified, because of free glow sticks that appeared for eleven seconds of a months-long campaign,\u201d Perry wrote. \u201cApparently glow sticks merit the same punishment as voter intimidation.\u201d<\/p>\n Perry then went on to suggest that the outcome would have been different had McIntosh not been a white male<\/a>.<\/p>\n Perry continued, in his op-ed<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cEvery Aggie ought to ask themselves: How would they act and feel if the victim was different? What if McIntosh had been a minority student instead of a white male<\/a>? What if Brooks had been the candidate disqualified? Would the administration and the student body have allowed the first gay<\/a> student body president to be voided for using charity glow sticks? Would the student body have allowed a black student body president to be disqualified on anonymous charges of voter intimidation?\u201d<\/p>\n Robert McIntosh (who kind of looks like a young Rick Perry)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The student Perry argued for, Robert McIntosh, responded in an interview with the school paper, The Battalion<\/em><\/a>:<\/p>\n McIntosh, who is a university studies senior, said he was unaware of Perry\u2019s plans to write a op-ed and appreciates the Secretary\u2019s comments, which he feel gives validity to his cause.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m thankful for Secretary Perry\u2019s support of fairness in the Houston Chronicle today. I did not at all expect his editorial and I\u2019m humbled to have his support,\u201d McIntosh said. \u201cHe made a compelling case which I fully support and continue to fight for. Our campaign team won the election and was subsequently disqualified unfairly. Diversity, at it\u2019s heart, is equal treatment of all, and we hope this situation is resolved in a way that ensures a fair and more transparent process now and in future elections.\u201d<\/p>\n And the school responded to Perry<\/a>:<\/p>\n While Perry is requesting answers from the Board of Regents, A&M faculty play no part and do not interfere with the elections of either members of student government or the position of Yell Leader.<\/p>\n Amy Smith, spokeswoman for Texas A&M, expressed a gratitude for Perry\u2019s desire to remain loyal to Texas A&M, but said the university was not, nor could have been, involved in the decision to disqualify McIntosh.<\/p>\n \u201cWe appreciate Secretary Perry\u2019s long-term commitment to his alma mater and to the state in general,\u201d Smith said. \u201cWe were surprised that he weighed in on the university student body election and respectfully disagree with his assessment. These elections are run by the students with advisors from student affairs and issues that arise are adjudicated in accordance with the Student Government constitution and by-laws.\u201d<\/p>\n Vice Chancellor of Marketing and Communication for the TAMU System Laylan Copelin referred The Battalion to Smith as well.<\/p>\n Smith went on to indicate that McIntosh was not given unequal treatment because of Brooks\u2019 sexuality as Perry implied.<\/p>\n \u201cThe disqualification of the leading vote-getter resulted in the certification of Bobby Brooks as the next Student Body President effective April 21, 2017,\u201d Smith said. \u201cTo suggest that the same decision of disqualification would not have been made if the roles were reversed is to deny the Texas A&M of today where accountability applies to all.\u201d<\/p>\n The post Rick Perry Charges Texas A&M\u2019s First Openly Gay Student President with Stealing Election from GOP Fundraiser\u2019s Son<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\nRELATED:\u00a0Texas A&M Elects First Openly Gay Student Body President<\/a><\/em><\/h2>\n
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