Stewards scandal highlights need for integrity

Last week’s Georgetown University Student Association election erupted into controversy when an anonymous source, “Steward Throat,” revealed presidential hopeful Jack Appelbaum (COL ‘14) to be a member of the infamous Stewards Society.  Exposing Appelbaum and his campaign manager, Jake Sticka (SFS ‘13), to be members of this secret society merely rumored to be elitist, conservative, and homophobic was irrelevant to the campaign and ultimately accomplished nothing beyond distracting student voters from the campus issues at hand and the candidates’ abilities to meet their promises.

Although sensationalist in nature, the Stewards scandal brought into question the integrity of then vice-presidential contender Adam Ramadan (SFS ‘14). In an interview with The Hoya, Ramadan questioned the impact the Stewards had on Appelbaum’s motives in the election, failing to disclose the fact that he himself was a member of a different branch of the same society.

When Ramadan eventually disclosed his membership he said, “What I think it comes down to is that if anybody is a part of a group like this, it’s at their discretion if and when to expose that information. When I thought about it more and saw the way it unraveled today, I wanted full disclosure.”

Secret societies have been stigmatized—maybe for good reason, given suspicions of past corruption—and considering the negative effect Appelbaum’s association with the Stewards ultimately had on his ticket, it isn’t difficult to see why Ramadan delayed coming clean about his membership. Nevertheless, we must emphasize  that complete honesty is imperative for any representative of the student body. Ramadan’s lack of full disclosure did not paint his character in a positive light, nor did it reassure the electorate of his intentions as a GUSA candidate.

As a media outlet committed to educating and informing the campus community, the Voice values honesty and full disclosure. Although in normal circumstances extracurricular involvement would not reduce Ramadan’s competence as a candidate or his love for Georgetown, in this instance his membership in a secret society had the potential to impact the results of the election. Ramadan should have been more forthcoming about his association with the Stewards when the issue first emerged, not only when events unraveled. With a year ahead of him in the GUSA executive, the Voice is confident that Ramadan has learned from this experience and expects nothing but integrity from the GUSA vice president-elect.