The Oracle- April 20, 2015

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Former Police Chief files discrimination complaint By LUCAS MCCOY Beat Reporter

Drake Fenlon | The Oracle CAMPAIGN’S END- SGA Presidential candidate Nathan Cole (left) shakes hands with SGA President-Elect Bobby Adams (right) after the results of the run-off election were announced Friday afternoon.

Adams announced as SGA President After a run-off vote, Bobby Adams was elected as the President of the Student Government Association for the 2015-2016 school year. Large number of write-in votes cause need for run-off election. By ADAM WEBB Staff Writer Tennessee Tech’s Student Government Association Executive Council election came to a close Friday after a run-off election determined Bobby Adams to be the winner. With a grand total of 1,138 votes, Adams was declared the winner with a final vote count of 682. His opponent, Nathan Cole, had 447 votes and there were nine write-in votes. “I feel truly honored to be selected by the students to serve them over the next year as SGA President,” Adams said. “Both teams had a lot of people out there supporting them so it was good. I think today was a very positive PR day for SGA and I’m Adams excited for the next year.” Cole commended his team for a hard fought race despite the loss Friday. “We ran a phenomenal campaign Tuesday, but after that we were just tapped out,” Cole said. “We reallocated all our resources and he didn’t quite have that, but he brought it (Friday).” Cole went on to say that this is his last year in Student Government, but he enjoyed his time in the organization. Controversy surrounded this year’s election as a petition was filed against Adams prior to the initial Executive Council election April 14. Current SGA Vice President Daniel Tribble and SGA Vice President-Elect

Nick Russell filed the petition the weekend before the election in an attempt to delay the election until the SGA Supreme Court could make a ruling on the eligibility of Adams’ candidacy. “Mr. Adams was not a full-time student at the time his petition was turned in and signed,” Tribble and Russell wrote in their petition. The current SGA constitution dictates that all elected members of the executive branch be full-time students at Tech. According to the petition, Adams was two credit hours short of being full time when his petition for election was turned in. “When I became aware that I needed to become a full-time student, I just signed up for the hours I needed,” Adams said. “As soon as I became aware, I went through the proper avenues, I went and registered for two credit hours.” Tribble and Russell wrote in their petition that Adams was aware of the new rules for this year’s election when he signed and initialed them during a dead hour meeting April 7. “The main issue still remains,” Tribble Cole said. “Should (Adams) be allowed to run based off him not being full time at the start of the campaign?” “I know that there are questions, and that’s OK because there’s always going to be questions, but the good thing is that I followed procedure on everything,” Adams said. The SGA Supreme Court was going to hold a hearing Thursday, April 16, after the votes were collected to

BY THE NUMBERS:

Results from Initial April 14 Election

Candidate Total Votes Percentage Bobby Adams 753 49.38% Nathan Cole 758 49.70% Write-In 14 0.92% Results from Run-Off April 17 Election

Candidate Total Votes Percentage Bobby Adams 682 59.93% Nathan Cole 447 39.28% Write-In 9 0.79% determine whether or not Adams could have officially run for president based on the SGA Constitution. SGA Supreme Court Chief Justice Justin Perdue said the petition was ruled invalid for improper filing. “The petition was not filed to the judicial adviser and that’s why the election commission ruled that it was an invalid petition, and I think it’s an invalid petition too,” Perdue said. According to the Constitution, “the Election Commission shall determine, enforce and provide disciplinary actions for all rules regarding SGA-held elections.” After a meeting April 14, current SGA President Emily McDonald said the SGA Election Commission ruled to disregard the petition based on the contents of the SGA Constitution. A run-off vote was held to decide the winner of the presidential race

after the ruling from the Election Commission. “The Election Commission members carefully considered this request from the candidates and made a decision that was in the best interest of both the students and the candidates,” McDonald said. The Election Commission is comprised of 11 members. One is also a member of the SGA Supreme Court, two are ‘civilian’ students and the rest are members of the senate or executive cabinet. According to election data posted late Tuesday night, 1,525 votes were cast in the SGA presidential race, 753 for Adams and 758 for Cole. Fourteen of the votes were write-ins. See

“Election,” >>Page 3

Remodel project to begin in Jere Whitson, Backdoor Playhouse to relocate operations By BRITTANY LYNCH Beat Reporter Construction has been an everpresent constant on Tennessee Tech’s campus this year. After Centennial Plaza and South Hall are completed, the Jere Whitson Building, home of the ever-popular Backdoor Playhouse, is set to undergo construction. “I am enthusiastic about the potential improvements to the Backdoor Playhouse as well as the Jere Whitson Building and I am hopeful that the University ‘powers-that-be’ will be true to their word, and that the construction work will done in a timely manner,” said Mark Creter, artistic director of the Backdoor Playhouse. “I am trying to be cautiously optimistic.” During the construction, productions put on by the campus theater will be taken to a new location. “The staff of the Backdoor Playhouse will be moving to Read More Online

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Drake Fenlon | The Oracle THE BACKDOOR- The Jere Whitson Building is slated as the next building on the Main Quad to be remodeled. This will displace the Tech Players for a stint of time. Foundation Hall during the renovations. We will have a full season of productions next year,” said Creter. “I am talking to the Cookeville Performing Arts Center and the Wesley Arena Theatre about renting their facilities for our shows. As soon as I have secured our various performance locations, I will announce it on

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our home page.” Changes will be made to the Backdoor Playhouse, which has been going strong for the past 50 years. Creter said the entire auditorium would have a whole new look. “The auditorium will have new (and more comfortable) seating, new floors and carpeting, new ceiling and

newly painted walls,” he said. “A new entrance into the lobby will be created as well as new windows.” With the excitement of a new home for the Backdoor Playhouse comes the apprehension of the move. After South Hall is finished this semester and faculty, staff and students can go back to their normal schedules during the Fall 2015 semester, it will be Jere Whitson’s turn to have its transformation. “The construction is needed as many of the buildings are old and in bad shape. While I am cautiously enthusiastic about the changes to the Backdoor Playhouse, it will be very difficult for the theater program to be without a home for two years,” said Creter. “If a similar renovation was done to the football stadium or the Bryan Fine Arts Building, I wonder how those programs would be dealt with. Again, if everything goes according to plan it will be excellent, but that is a big ‘if.’”

Tennessee Tech’s former police chief has filed a complaint against Tech with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regarding her 2014 dismissal. Gay Shepherd started working at Tech’s police department in 1979 and served as police chief for 18 years. On June 20, 2014, however, she was asked to resign by her supervisor, Marc Burnett, vice president of student affairs. Shepherd went to Cookeville attorney Henry Fincher April 14 and filed a complaint with the EEOC. She was told she was dismissed from her position for her “lack of leadership” in the Tech police department. According to the form, she was wrongfully terminated because of conflicts with her supervisor based on her sexual orientation, age and religious beliefs. The complaint has the potential to turn into a lawsuit if the EEOC declares that the University did wrongfully terminate Shepherd. The EEOC has six months to conduct the investigation. “We are waiting on an official notification from the EEOC,” said Karen Lykins, associate vice president for communications and marketing. Fincher commented on the investigation process. “Then they, the EEOC, will either take the case, refer it to the U.S. Dept. of Justice Civil Rights Division for prosecution or, much more likely because Ms. Shepherd has a lawyer, they will issue a ‘right to sue’ letter. This gives us 90 days to file a lawsuit in federal court,” said Fincher. Shepherd could not be reached for comment. Fincher has issued a statement about Shepherd in an email: “Chief Shepherd has been a trailblazer at Tennessee Tech. One of the first female TTU police officers, Chief Shepherd was both the first female police chief at a TBR 4 year university and the first openly LGBT chief as well. Chief Shepherd loves Tennessee Tech but cannot accept the unfair discrimination forced on her from a few people in the current administration. This administration pushed her out of the job she loves because of who she is – an openly lesbian woman in her 50s. Chief Shepherd tried to work this out with both TTU and the TBR but they stonewalled her. The Tech Administration’s refusal to undo this unlawful discrimination forced her to file this Complaint. If it persists in refusing to fix this intolerable set of events, Chief Shepherd will pursue all legal means of recourse. It’s 2015. Discrimination against someone because of their age, gender or sexual orientation has no place in our society and Tech should be ashamed of what it has done to one of their own.”

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