Harvard Extension Student Association Elections Abruptly Postponed Over Alleged Campaign Rules Violations

The Harvard Extension Student Association yearly elections were abruptly postponed until at least the fall semester over campaign rule violations, the Division of Continuing Education’s Student Elections Team announced last week.

In emails to HESA candidates and Harvard Extension School students, the team wrote that they had “received a significant number of reports of colorable student conduct and campaign rules violations in connection with the upcoming elections for the HESA Executive Board.”

They wrote that they would be investigating the complaints over the summer. “In the interim, we ask that all campaign efforts be discontinued, effective immediately,” the team wrote.

The announcement came just days before voting was scheduled to open Monday, and hours before a Meet the Candidates event scheduled for 8 p.m. on April 24.

In interviews with The Crimson, multiple candidates for HESA board positions said that current HESA members were endorsing and campaigning for candidates in student organization group chats in violation of HESA campaign rules.

Cole Tibbs, a candidate for HESA president, said that Emina Dedić, the current HESA president, and Lindsey Siegfried de Sánchez, a current HESA board member also running for president, had both endorsed candidates for the next HESA board — giving the perception that their endorsements were on behalf of HESA as a whole.

“There is evidence of current HESA officers publicly endorsing favored candidates, which may cause students to believe these to be endorsements by HESA itself,” Tibbs wrote.

Dedić endorsed de Sanchez for president as well as Nathan Rogers — HESA’s current executive secretary — Lauren Macklin and Juan Pastrana for board positions in a WhatsApp group chat titled “HES Connect,” according to messages obtained by The Crimson. de Sanchez also endorsed Rogers and Macklin in the same group chat.

“As outgoing HESA President my responsibility is ensure we have a strong leadership body intent on serving our student body,” Dedić wrote in one message. “That is why these individuals have obtained my endorsement.”

de Sanchez did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The rules, listed on the HES Student Elections website, prohibit campaigning on “any platforms created and/or utilized by student organizations.” The “HES Connects” group chat appeared to be an informal chat for Extension School students to connect with one another, though several HESA members were among the chat’s administrators.

The rules also forbid student organizations from making endorsements, but do not include any stipulations about whether individuals in student organizations are allowed to make personal endorsements.

In an emailed statement, Dedić wrote that she was not making endorsements on behalf of HESA.

“These endorsements were made in their private capacities,” Dedić wrote. “Once we received communication from DCE requesting that current board members refrain from endorsing candidates, we removed those endorsements from personal social media.”

Jessica Brooks, a candidate for HESA vice president, described a pattern in which outgoing HESA leadership would try to influence the outcomes of elections in an interview.

“There is still a really significant control dynamic from Kody, who is the ex-officio, who made Emina, who then is making Lindsey — and Lindsey will, if she gets in, she will choose the next one,” said Brooks, referring to former HESA president Kody Christiansen.

“It is very much this kind of toxic dynamic of people who want to, you know, choose the next victor,” she added.

But both Dedić and Christiansen, who now serves as ex-officio president, objected to this characterisation in emailed statements.

“My role is purely consultative, offering guidance to the executive team as requested,” Christiansen wrote, adding that he did not publicly endorse any candidates while serving as president.

Dedić said Christiansen “does not attend HESA board meetings, or general assemblies, and does not wield a controlling influence over our decisions--including who decided to run for office.”

“His role is advisory and supportive, which we appreciate given the logistical challenges posed by his residence in another time zone,” she wrote.

Regardless of the rules dispute, candidates said they were frustrated with the postponement of the election.

“It’s been difficult to kind of build up to this massive thing and then right at the very end to have it kind of pulled out from under us because of potentially some, a few, bad actors,” Tibbs said.

Christiansen said he was “deeply disheartened” by the decision.

“It is paramount that HESA is ran by the students and for the students, with only essential administrative oversight — a standard upheld across other Harvard schools,” Christiansen wrote. “Canceling the election without discussing possible solutions to the situation with HESA leadership is simply wrong.”

In a Tuesday statement, DCE Dean Nancy Coleman wrote that “the voice of the student at Harvard Extension School is extremely important and we take all situations that could potentially threaten the strength of that voice very seriously.”

“Unfortunately, this year we have received multiple complaints of possible student misconduct and campaign violations that have put the integrity of the HESA executive board elections at risk,” she added. “To ensure that candidates and students can trust that the election process is fair and unbiased, we have paused the current election. Next steps will be evaluated over the summer.”

Alexander Ponce, another candidate for president, said the postponement would negatively impact the ability of the next HESA board to work effectively due to a delayed onboarding process.

“So the fall term is going to be basically wasted, trying to figure out our feet from our head. It’s going to be too tumultuous,” Ponce said in an interview. “Then, only then, are we going to start being in a good position to competently start affecting any kind of change.”

“So basically, you’re working, what little time you have, so that you could affect change for what, three months, maybe four months?” Ponce said.

—Staff writer Lenny R. Pische contributed reporting.

—Staff writer Kirsten O. Agbenyega can be reached at kirsten.agbenyega@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Threads @kirstena006