The Undergraduate Student Government voted to keep Kris “Krispy” Pierce as director of the Elections Governance Board in an emergency meeting yesterday evening.
Only two members of the USG Senate voted to rescind the recommendation of Pierce to the position, with two senators abstaining.
“Rick Barga chose the best person for the job,” said USG senator Rebecca Price. “I don’t think one story in The Lantern should change how he does his job. I’m with Krispy that this will blow over.”
The meeting was held after a story published in The Lantern yesterday. Amy Huizinga, a junior in Spanish, accused Pierce of sexual harassment when they worked together at Royer Marketplace last spring quarter. Following a complaint by Huizinga, Pierce was removed from his supervisor role by Human Resources but suffered no official sanctions from Ohio State.
Pierce denied the allegations and stressed the matter was behind him.
“I pride myself with my integrity and my honesty,” Pierce said. “It happened eight months ago and the university took no action against me. There’s no reason why I can’t continue with to do the hard work I’ve done.”
Several senators raised concerns the allegations would hamper Pierce in the functions of his position.
“I think the big issue is: What does this do to the integrity of the position?” said senator Ben Casteel. “The position he’s in is a position of extreme integrity.”
Another senator questioned whether female applicants to USG might feel uncomfortable talking to Pierce, now that the allegations have been made public.
“I hope we hold our independent officers to a higher standard,” said diversity senator Chantelle Porter. “I’m really worried that people are going to be shied away. I’m worried that people who don’t know him are going to be scared.”
Pierce promised to let the issue burn itself out and to stay out of the public eye, in an address which seemed to be more of a plea to keep his position.
“I will never have a comment on this. The Lantern can ask me all the questions they want,” Pierce said. “I think the issue will fade out. I’m not going to put fuel in the fire.”
Most of the senators were in support of Pierce and didn’t want to run away from the issue.
“I think his integrity will shine through,” said Rick Barga, USG senator and chairman of the Independent Officer Selection Committee, the organization which recommended Pierce to the EGB board in the first place. “Public opinion has been wrong on a lot of things before. Public opinion was in favor of segregation in schools, and that was sort of a bad idea.”
One alternate senator was concerned with whether the public would remember the incident.
“The elections happen in March. They’re a circus as it is,” said Scott Ishi. “By the time March comes around, I think people will have forgotten that Bellisari got a DUI, let alone if Krispy may or may have not sexually harassed someone.”
Jen Mankarious, USG technology and communications director, spoke up about a conversation held in one of her classes about the issue.
“Everyone just kept saying they were really disturbed,” Mankarious said. “People kept saying he shouldn’t be in this leadership role. I don’t think this will die down.”
In the end, the USG Senate voted to keep Pierce on as director of the Elections Governance Board. Pierce said he’s optimistic about the future but many will judge him without knowing all the facts.
“I was walking into this meeting thinking I was going to lose my job,” Pierce said. “Unfortunately (the public) isn’t privy to all the facts. I hope they trust I’ll represent the students as well as I have.”
