New Sophomore Rep. Election Imminent After Both Candidates Ruled Ineligible
Editor’s Note: The Wilf Student Court’s opinion in the case of Jacob Goldsmith v Yeshiva University Canvassing Committee can be found here.
Both candidates in the Fall 2020 race for Yeshiva Student Union (YSU) sophomore representative were disqualified by the Wilf Student Court, with a new election likely to be held in the coming weeks. The announcement came in a Sept. 27 email to Wilf students from Chief Justice Bryan Lavi (YC ‘21).
On Sept. 18, The Commentator reported that after Jacob Goldsmith (YC ‘23) won the election for sophomore representative, the Canvassing Committee voted to disqualify him on account of him not having the appropriate credit total and class standing on Sept. 15’s election day. Shay Fishman (YC ‘23), the runner up, was named the winner. Goldsmith subsequently submitted a petition to the student court suing the Canvassing Committee, arguing that their decision was unjust.
While the court ruled in favor of the Canvassing Committee, stating that Goldsmith “failed to meet the requirements,” they also found that “the runner up to the election also failed to meet the requirements of the position set forth by the Constitution.” Fishman will be a sophomore only for the fall semester and become a junior this spring, disqualifying him from the race.
With both candidates ruled ineligible, the court directed the Canvassing Committee to “hold a new election as outlined in Article X Section 5 (4) of the Wilf Constitution.”
Goldsmith appealed the court’s ruling on Sept. 29 and is awaiting the chief justice’s decision. However, since election day, Goldsmith’s credits have been approved by the registrar, making him a true sophomore and apparently eligible to run in the new race should his appeal fail.
Baruch Lerman (YC ‘23), who was a member of the Canvassing Committee this year, told The Commentator he is “strongly considering” a run for the sophomore representative position. Lerman is the current Student Organization of Yeshiva’s (SOY) Isaac Breuer College (IBC) representative.
“The constitution only says you can’t run for two positions at once — it says nothing about holding them,” Lerman insisted. “I have previous experience on YSU and ran plenty of events for both the Freshman and Sophomore classes last year. If I do run, it will be because I think I'm the best man for the job. Know that I will be able to give my all to both SOY and YSU.”
On Sept. 27, prepping to declare his candidacy, Lerman posted on the public Wilf Campus Student Government WhatsApp group that he had left his post on the Canvassing Committee and appointed Jonathan Malek (SSSB ‘22), the SOY Irving I. Stone Beit Midrash Program (SBMP) representative, to take his place. Two days later, Lerman announced on the same group that he was appointing Gabriel Goralnick (YC ‘23) instead of Malek, citing the Wilf Constitution’s line that states he must choose someone from his “school.” Lerman interprets that to mean Yeshiva College, and Malek is a student at the Sy Syms School of Business.
Subsequently, Malek sued Lerman in the court on Sept. 29, asking the justices to “decide whether his appointment to the Canvassing Committee was legitimate,” according to another email from Lavi to Wilf students. The Canvassing Committee must now wait for the conclusion of this case as well as the result of Goldsmith’s appeal before moving forward with a new election.
Photo Credit: The Commentator
Photo Caption: Both candidates in the Fall 2020 race for YSU sophomore representative were disqualified by the Wilf Student Court, with a new election likely to be held in the coming weeks.
