USG hopefuls confront past indiscretions

USG presidential candidate Rob Biederman '08 was forced to explain his own disciplinary record yesterday, one day after opponent Grant Gittlin '08 admitted at a public forum that he was asked to move off campus after three disciplinary violations.

Gittlin supporters suggested on Thursday that Biederman was not being forthright about his own run-ins with the University. They alleged that Biederman was inebriated at a fraternity event last May, where he set a squirrel on fire. Biederman was put on disciplinary probation, these individuals alleged.

In an interview with The Daily Princetonian, Biederman vehemently denied he was drunk, but admitted he was present when a friend poured lighter fluid on a dead squirrel outside Henry Hall before setting it alight with a match. Biederman added that this took place at a barbeque with friends — an event not affiliated with a fraternity — and that no official has told him that he was placed on probation.

"I feel like I don't really have anything to hide," Biederman said, calling the event a "youthful indiscretion." "I see it as a non-issue. I don't think there's a single person on the USG who doesn't do silly things from time to time."

"It was certainly not my idea," he said of the burning. "I was not the driving force ... [and] more of a bystander."

Public Safety questioned Biederman about the incident several hours after it occurred, he said. He subsequently met with Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students Hillary Herbold, who is also the secretary of the Committee on Discipline. That meeting was his final contact with University officials on the matter, and he has not heard from the administration since, he said.

Gittlin, who is currently the Class of 2008 president, was the first to face questions about his disciplinary past, specifically that he was asked to leave University housing because of alcohol-related problems. In an unrelated incident in March 2005, Princeton Borough Police arrested Gittlin and charged him with possession of alcohol by a minor.

Gittlin declined to respond to questions emailed to him by a reporter and instead issued a statement, the full text of which is available here. He said at the debate that his relationship with administrators would not be compromised by his violations, citing meetings he has had with President Tilghman and Dean of the College Nancy Malkiel.

While Tilghman and Malkiel are not members of the Committee on Discipline, several administrators that Gittlin would interact with as president are, including Herbold, Dean of Undergraduate Students Kathleen Deignan and Vice President for Campus Life Janet Dickerson.

"It would be wrong to suggest in any way that I have a view of disciplinary matters that differs from that of the Discipline Committee," Malkiel said in an email yesterday, explaining that she has a formal role as the adjudicator of student appeals to decisions of the discipline committee.

Malkiel added that she would not comment publicly on any student's disciplinary record and that she "would never do or say anything publicly to involve myself in or seek in any way to influence a student election."

These questions raised about the two candidates disciplinary records are not "anything that the election managers had to deal with," said Caitlin Sullivan '07, one of the managers. "It was something that surfaced and I thought [was] handled appropriately by both candidates."

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"It's a shame that someone brought personal issues into the debate last night," said Liz Gough '07, another election manager. "In this case, it's best to focus on the platforms of the different candidates and the ideas they have to make Princeton better."

Biederman echoed these sentiments, saying, "I am happy that people know the truth ... but as a voter, I would not make a decision in this race based on [personal conduct]."