A Murray State University student and a high school student enrolled in the college’s dual credit program filed a lawsuit this week against MSU’s president in relation to a decision by the Student Government Association’s judicial board to vacate the results of a recent student presidential election.
Murray State junior Ali Khatib was initially declared the winner of the SGA presidential election held in mid-March. Khatib beat out the incumbent SGA president, junior Brendan Hawkins, by just two votes.
Two days later, Hawkins filed a challenge to the election results, saying the results should be ruled invalid due to several reasons – including the historic closeness of the election and the eligibility of some of the voters. He also asked for the SGA to call a new special election.
The student government’s judicial board sided with Hawkins – and set a new special election for the SGA president and other executive board offices to be held April 14 and 15.
An election trial and ruling over who can cast SGA votes
Murray State News reporter River Murt covered both the election and the subsequent trial and ruling.
“In the challenge, [Hawkins] didn't explicitly say that Ali had done any wrongdoing, but it was more that the votes which led him to that victory were potentially invalid,” said Murt. “There were 31 high schoolers and 15 faculty members who voted in this election.”
The current SGA Constitution, as amended in June 2023, states that “any student enrolled in a college shall have the privilege of voting for Senate positions representing that college, all SGA officer positions, and at-large senate positions.” The Constitution also states that the primary constituency of the SGA officers, at-large senators, and the Campus Activities Board are responsible for representing all students enrolled at Murray State University.
Murt said that in an election, the SGA election monitors can track whether a student who voted was designated a particular category – whether full-time, part-time, faculty and staff enrolled in MSU classes, or high school taking dual credit courses. Voting takes place through the system-wide myGate portal that all faculty, staff, and students have access to.
Murt said that Hawkins suggested high schoolers, faculty and staff that are taking Murray State classes should not be able to vote in SGA elections because high school students are not frequently on campus and are not familiar with the SGA and activities taking place at the college. Hawkins told WKMS faculty and staff already have their own respective senates on campus and therefore already have representation through their established organizations.
Murt said the March 31 trial lasted over seven hours with the judicial board hearing all of the evidence presented. The board also heard testimony from former SGA coordinator Jeanie Morgan, who served in her role for decades; elections ways and means director Nathaniel Hunt, who handled the election; and others. After the testimony, the judicial board went into closed session. Upon returning, it ruled that the results for the entire executive board elections were vacated. They also ruled that a new special election would be declared and the SGA Constitution should be amended for proper voter designation to resolve ambiguities.
Moving forward, Murt said there would be changes to who is allowed to vote in the upcoming special election.
“High school, dual credit students, faculty and staff who are taking classes cannot vote in elections. Part of Hawkins' challenge was that faculty and staff have their own representation. They have the faculty staff regent, so there's going to be a total separation,” Murt said. “Basically in the next election, only full credit or part time students of a certain credit hour can vote.”
This means that less people will be able to vote in the special election due to the new interpretation, including the 31 high schoolers and 15 faculty who participated in the general election in March.
Hawkins said his decision to file a challenge was not one he arrived at independently. He received a phone call from Morgan – the former SGA advisor – who he said urged him to try and overturn the election on the advice of Kentucky State Representative J.T. Payne.
“And she literally ended the phone call; she goes, ‘Okay, Brendan, I'm gonna, I'm gonna let you go now so you could start writing up this report to [the judicial] board. But if you need any more help, let me know,’” Hawkins said. “‘I'm like, ‘Jeanie. I haven't even agreed to do this yet.’”
In a statement, Payne, a former Murray State SGA president, said he “did not express support on either side of the matter,” and said he has “no interest in being involved in the Murray State Student Government elections.”
Morgan did not reply to a request for comment by the time of publication.
Khatib said he feels like the challenge was not in line with the letter of the SGA bylaws.
“I do think I was wronged. I mean, I believed I won student government president for like, a good two days, and then I got a message saying that my election has been contested after the time you should be able to contest the election.”
Murt said the trial essentially came down to the legitimacy of the voting populous.
“Khatib sent a formal request back saying that Hawkins has violated a sort of procedure of challenging the election, saying that anything, any challenge of that sort, needs to be before the election. And Hawkins circumvented this by making it clear in his document and at the trial that it's not about offenses. It's about the validity of the vote,” Murt said. “And that's what the trial basically came down to.”
Khatib said the judicial board's decision was not what he expected.
“The Judicial Board claimed that it was due to the ambiguous language of what [it] defines as a student on the Constitution, but I believe that this was effectively a coup, honestly. I'm not going to say it was a formal coup, but to some extent, I do believe that there were parties involved in this that intended for this outcome to be this way.”
Students file lawsuit against university president over judicial board ruling
The restriction of who the judicial board ruled is allowed to vote in SGA elections – including the upcoming special election – is part of the basis of a lawsuit filed in Calloway County Circuit Court on April 9.
In the days following WKMS’s interview with Khatib, he and Racer Academy student Jesus Figueroa Martinez filed a lawsuit in Calloway County Circuit Court against Murray State University President Robert “Bob” Jackson.
In the lawsuit, the students claim that the judicial board made an “erroneous decision” in its vacating of the March SGA election results, and that Jackson failed to correct the student board’s decision. Additionally, the plaintiffs allege a violation of Racer Academy students’ rights of due process and equal protection under the 14th Amendment, arguing that students whose SGA voting rights were impacted did not have reasonable or sufficient notice of changes to an administrative rule with an opportunity to comment.
The plaintiffs want Jackson to enforce the policies of the board of regents, uphold the March election results and confirm that Racer Academy students have the right to participate in Murray State Student Government Association elections. The lawsuit states that the president of Murray State University is “responsible and required to correct errors within the university that violate the policies of the board of regents.”
The lawsuit also states that Khatib questioned the impartiality of the SGA Judicial Board during the trial. According to court documents, a member of the board shares the same fraternity as Hawkins and the board failed to exclude that member from participation due to an alleged conflict of interest.
The plaintiffs also allege that the judicial board violated the principle of separation of powers by amending the SGA by-laws and claims only the student senate can amend the organization’s by-laws. The SGA Constitution requires a three-fourths majority vote of the student senate or a petition of 25% of the entire student body, and an amendment is not legitimate until approved by the MSU Board of Regents.
Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that Jackson has been notified of this violation of due process and claim that he “refused or unreasonably delayed in taking action to rectify the [judicial] board’s decision to conform with the policies of the board of regents,” and that his inaction has led to Khatib being denied his position and the rights and benefits entitled to the position of SGA President. According to the MSU Board of Regents Policy Manual, the SGA president is entitled to a $4,000 scholarship per semester if they are an in-state student, or $6,000 per semester in scholarship funds if they are an out-of-state student. The SGA president also serves as the student regent on the university’s board of regents.
Figueroa participated in the March election but will be unable to vote in the upcoming election. The suit claims that the Judicial Board lacks the authority to amend the by-laws excluding him and that he has lost his right to vote in an ex post facto decision by the group.
In a statement, a university spokesperson said the college was informed that one full-time student and one Racer Academy Student had filed a petition in Calloway County Circuit Court associated with the recent Student Government Association election. They stressed that the institution supports and is committed to principles of shared government. The spokesperson said the university “looks forward to answering the petition in more detail in the weeks ahead.”
A court hearing is scheduled for April 21 – six days after the special election ends.
New elections to be held April 14 and 15
The runoff election for Murray State University student government association president will be held on Monday and Tuesday.
Prior to filing the lawsuit, Khatib said he's sticking to his guns, but he wouldn’t challenge the results of the special election if he does not come out on top.
“Students will vote how they want. I've been campaigning hard. I've been talking to everyone. I've been I haven't changed what I've done last time, campaigning that I'm doing this time, aside from the fact I have made some there, there have been some, some shirts going around that say free ollie on it, because the court rolled against me, which I do think is really good campaigning,” Khatib said. “But aside from that, I really think the best approach for me is just to keep campaigning and keep going.”
Hawkins said he's prepared to accept the results.
“Really, I'm not doing this for me at this point. And two years of being SGA president, or one year, it looks pretty much the same on a resume, right?” Hawkins said. “This doesn't really matter for me, and you know, I'm more than happy with letting it go honestly. But I want to see the very best thing for students. I want to see the very best thing for SGA.”
Hawkins said he is hoping for a higher turnout than the election results compared to the initial election.
Murt said that he thought that a higher turnout was a hopeful, but unrealistic expectation considering that the trial and subsequent reinterpretation of the SGA Constitution and voting criterion would reduce the pool of eligible voters.
The Murray State News will have coverage of the election results as they come in following the SGA special election taking place on Monday and Tuesday.
