A general meeting of the College Republicans on April 2 turned into a near shouting match when club members voiced concerns over recent allegations of constitutional violations by the club's current executive board, highlighting concerns of some about the club's internal affairs.
The executive board, more commonly known as the e-board, is the leadership arm of the organization, and includes President John Zevitas, a junior in the School of Public Affairs, and Vice President Will Haun, a sophomore in SPA.
The alleged constitutional violations were that membership dues stopped being collected before spring break and the e-board illegally removed its membership chair, Caleb Smith, a junior in SPA. Club members alleged that the violations were intended to limit membership and "fix" the elections for next year's e-board, which take place next Tuesday, so that the current board could stay in power.
At the meeting, Haun was questioned about the violations and slowly became visibly upset, even "belligerent and began to snap at people," said Peter Zuk, a sophomore in SPA who attended the meeting. Zevitas was also questioned at the meeting and began to "stumble over his own words," Zuk said.
After Haun began to "lose his cool," Zuk said the meeting ended abruptly.
When reached by telephone, College Republicans Public Relations Chair Chris Palko, a sophomore in SPA, confirmed that something was going on in the club, but told The Eagle he was not allowed to comment.
Sources close to the Republicans who spoke to The Eagle said the constitutional violations expose real problems with the club's management.
"There's a big problem," Mike Pasko, a junior in SPA and candidate for club president in the upcoming elections, said. "It's an attitude of top-down rule."
Stopping dues collection
Pasko said the e-board arbitrarily set a date by which club dues of $5 had to be collected, which violated the club's constitution by limiting membership. Only members who have paid dues are eligible to vote in club elections.
The constitution, obtained by The Eagle, makes no mention of limiting membership. It says that anyone who pays dues will be considered a member who can vote in any and all elections.
"Any person making a formal request for membership shall be a general member," the document said.
"Something shady is going on," a source said. "They set up the [due] date a month before [the elections]. Why did it have to be that long?"
The source alleges that the date was set so that Haun, a former Eagle columnist, could "guarantee himself the club's presidency."
"[Haun] is limiting who can participate in the election ... to make sure [he] wins the presidency," alleged another source, a sophomore in SPA. "He is the most corrupt, making most of the decisions."
The first source said that at the time the executives stopped collecting dues, only 20 to 30 members had paid. However, Smith said no one really knows how many members belong to the club.
"[Club Secretary] Caleb Enerson once told me that he receives the money and deposits it, but doesn't know the names of paid members," Smith said.
Current College Republicans Secretary Seth Johnson, a former Eagle editorial page editor and a junior in SPA, said Zevitas did not consult the constitution when he set the due date. Johnson said every year a date has been set to stop receiving dues.
"No one had a problem with it," Johnson said. "[Presidents] have done it every year."
Removal of Smith
The club further violated its constitution by removing its membership chair, Smith, from office over spring break.
"I received an e-mail from John Zevitas telling me he had to let me go from the e-board," Smith said.
In the e-mail, Zevitas wrote, "After being informed of you exploiting your position on the e-board for political gain, I unfortunately am going to have let you go ... I am terminating your position on the e-board."
No further explanation was provided in the e-mail, and Smith said he could not even speculate on why he was removed from the board.
Pasko alleged that Smith was removed to limit new memberships, thus facilitating the growing controversy over pushing back the club's election date.
"It's the membership director's responsibility to keep track and gain members," so by removing Smith, this would limit the number of total members, Pasko said.
In order for an e-board member to be removed, the executive board must meet and vote on the removal, a meeting Smith would have needed to attend. However, based on the date on Zevitas's e-mail, the meeting would have taken place over spring break.
Smith said he did not know of any meeting - which Johnson claims took place - nor did he know of any vote.
"There was no vote as required by the constitution to remove me from my position," Smith said. "So as far as I am concerned, I'm still serving as membership director for the College Republicans."
After being removed from the board, Smith said he met with staff in the Student Activities office, which oversees the club. Smith said they determined his removal was unconstitutional.
However, Smith said the board does not inform him of its meeting times, which they constantly change.
Johnson said the issue was resolved.
"Student Activities is not part of our board," he said. "They don't decide who is on our board."
The Student Activities liaison for the College Republicans was out of town when contacted and Student Activities Director Karen Gerlach did not return a call for comment.
"The silence speaks volumes"
Many attempts to contact the group went unanswered, a fact Pasko said proves the executives have something to hide.
"If you don't have anything to hide, why don't you have something to say?" Pasko said. "The silence speaks volumes."
A source said when the e-board learned of The Eagle investigation, it became "petrified."
Johnson agreed, saying if an article were published, it would be "damaging" and give the College Republicans a "bad name on campus."
Johnson said Haun has nothing to hide.
"He doesn't have to fix the election," Johnson said. "He will run on his record."
Sources who spoke to The Eagle said the membership controversy proves there is a real problem in the club with decisions being made at the top.
A second source said Haun runs all of the club's functions, even though he is not president.
"All of the e-mails come from him," the source said.
Multiple calls to Enerson, an Eagle editorial columnist, Anna Lorech, the club's communications director, Zevitas and Haun were either unanswered or resulted in a refusal to comment.
