Inside the plans to bribe students with food in the SGA election
New documentation obtained by The Black Explosion shows that the president of Christians United For Israel, an endorser of the Our College Park campaign, knowingly formed Terps Vote No in efforts to subvert SGA Election Rules and Regulations.
In a text message screenshot shared with The Black Explosion, CUFI president Nicholas Marks acknowledged that a separate organization would be necessary to conduct the bribery campaign.
“If Our College Park handed out food, it would be correctly interpreted as bribery. If Terps Vote No does it as a coalition, it’s just a bunch of concerned leaders,” the messages read.
Zohra Hall, Head Elections Commissioner for SGA, confirmed that these text messages were authentic to the best of her knowledge in an interview with The Black Explosion.
“Everybody was provided the same opportunity to support their argument, to support their case,” Hall added.
The Student Government Association Elections Commission found in a ruling on April 10, that Marks was “highly involved” in the Celsius distribution run by Terps Vote No.
Under SGA Election Rules and Regulations, bribery is a 100-point election violation, that could result in a ticket’s disqualification from the election.
Slack messages obtained and reviewed by The Black Explosion also show that Marks instructed members to volunteer for the Celsius drive to lobby students against a divestment referendum.
The recently passed referendum calls the SGA to lobby this university, the University System of Maryland and the university foundation to divest from companies that, “consistently, knowingly and directly facilitate and enable state violence.”
The bill that created the referendum specifically mentions weapons companies such as Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.
A raffle for one of three $50 Trader Joe’s gift cards was offered to Terps Vote No volunteers, according to the Google Form shared with club members.
Google form circulated by Nicholas Marks in Christians United for Israel Slack
Images obtained by The Black Explosion show Marks participating in a Celsius drive outside the Robert H. Smith School of Business. Chris Adams, the treasurer of CUFI, according to TerpLink, also participated in a distribution drive outside McKeldin Library.
Marks, Adams and Terps Vote No did not respond to requests for comment.
Zach Cecere, a freshman government and politics major and behavioral and social sciences legislative candidate for Our College Park, was one of the alleged participants but was determined not responsible by the SGA Elections Commission for the activities of CUFI and Terps Vote No.
Cecere formally denied all allegations against him in a statement to The Black Explosion. He further expressed that members of CUFI, Terps Vote No and affiliated organizations repeatedly attempted to solicit his opposition to the referendum.
Terps for Israel, a student organization that engages the university community on issues relating to Israel, also held a Chipotle food drive at Eppley Recreation Center on April 1 and a Chinese food drive on April 2 at Maryland Hillel, according to TerpLink.
In an audio recording shared with The Black Explosion, a representative of Terps for Israel encouraged students to vote for the Our College Park ticket and against the divestment referendum during the Chinese food tabling event at the Maryland Hillel.
“On the first page of the ballot, we recommend voting for Our College Park, which is [unintelligible]. And then on the second page, we suggest that people vote ‘no’ on the second question,” a representative of Terps for Israel said in the recording.
Terps for Israel did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Fliers posted then deleted on the Terps For Israel Instagram promising free food “when you vote no!” (Instagram)
Maryland Hillel, a nonprofit organization that provides services and supports Jewish students at this university, also hosted a “Chipotle and Chat” event and “Chinese Food Dinner” at times and locations that coincided with the lobbying events run by Terps for Israel.
In a statement to The Black Explosion, Rabbi Ari Israel wrote, “while we proudly support our student groups—including providing them space at Hillel—they operate independently, with full autonomy to host their own events and make their own programmatic decisions.”
On Monday, Hillel posted a statement on Instagram expressing their disappointment regarding the divestment referendum.
“Maryland Hillel is deeply disappointed, yet incredibly proud of the efforts by our pro-Israel students who worked extremely hard to oppose this measure,” the statement read.
The SGA Elections Commission ruled last Friday that Terps for Israel was responsible for bribing students in the most recent election, according to reporting by The Diamondback.
The JusticeUMD campaign was responsible for filing the allegations against Our College Park and its candidates.
“We acknowledge the lack of student engagement with the SGA, and as such, felt it upon ourselves to pursue these reports in order to ensure those responsible face consequences for their actions,” the JusticeUMD campaign wrote in a statement to The Black Explosion.
In a separate statement, JusticeUMD wrote that they were pleased the commission addressed bribery allegations against CUFI and Terps for Israel. However, they added they were “incredibly disappointed” that neither organizations were sanctioned.
Our College Park wrote in a statement to The Black Explosion that they are “pleased the Elections Commission made the correct determination that all Our College Park candidates abided by the election rules.”
However, they added that the commission was wrong to consider CUFI an agent of Our College Park and maintain that the ticket had no involvement in either bribery campaign.
Dhruvak Mirani, student body president-elect, wrote in a separate statement, “the actions of CUFI, Terps for Israel, and Terps Vote No—including bribing students and pressuring candidates to oppose the divestment referendum—were totally inappropriate. SGA must pursue election reforms to prevent this kind of misconduct from happening again.”
Student Body President, and senior criminology and criminal justice major, Reese Artero, said the “blatant” use of incentives threatens the integrity of democratic SGA elections.
“These actions were carried out with a disturbing awareness of the limitations of current oversight mechanisms,” Artero said.
Artero adds that while the SGA believes in the freedom of speech and assembly, they also acknowledge students’ right to vote on issues on policies that directly affect them.
“Offering material incentives in exchange for votes undermines this principle and damages public trust in our systems,” she said.
CLARIFICATION: This story has been updated to clarify the language of the SGA divestment referendum