We the members of the Association for Campus Entertainment petition the Executive Board’s decision to deny second semester seniors equal opportunity to apply for the position of Secretary for the Spring of 2017. While we understand that if no other underclassmen apply then seniors will be eligible, we find this policy to be unrepresentative of our beliefs and desires as contributing members of the organization.

For the past several years ACE has not followed the constitution closely, particularly in terms of the election process for open positions. For several years now, we as an organization have not explicitly staggered the terms of the Executive Board members. We find it to be unprofessional and unreasonable to suddenly pick and choose portions of the original constitution to abide by without taking into consideration the desires of the majority of the organization. In regards to the way ACE will be staggering terms, a recent email from the President stated that “those who are returning to ACE will be grandfathered into past practice;” however, this only seems to be the case for certain committees, and not Executive Board positions.

Additionally, if we were to begin closely abiding by that constitution now, there are several clauses which suggest that members who have already been on ACE (including seniors) should remain eligible, or even take priority, for Executive Board positions. In Article IV Section 5: Paragraph E the constitution states:

"The Secretary shall be elected from within the organization, having been a chairperson, member of the Executive Board, or a member of ACE who has shown participation and involvement in ACE meetings, events, and committees. i. In the event that there are no eligible members of ACE to fill the position of Secretary, it will be left to the discretion of the Executive Board to fill the position with a candidate who meets all the criteria of the previous membership."

If we were to abide by this section of the constitution then current students, including seniors, in ACE who are eligible for the position would take priority for the selection of Secretary. Furthermore Article V Section 2 paragraph D states that when electing positions for President, Vice president, Secretary, and Treasurer, “Priority will go to current members of ACE who have shown dedication and interest to the organization.” Once again, this clause does not give any indication that seniors should not be eligible to apply, rather it places value in members with greater amounts of experience. This includes seniors who have been a part of ACE.