Members of the Undergraduate Student Government have asked Kris “Krispy” Pierce to resign from his position as director of the Elections Governance Board, requests which Pierce has refused.
According to USG President Eddie Pauline, several members of the organization asked Pierce to leave after a Nov. 29 article ran in The Lantern which accused Pierce of sexually harassing female employees at Royer Marketplace last spring. That evening in an emergency meeting, the USG senate voted almost unanimously to keep Pierce as director of the Elections Governance Board.
Pauline said student reaction to the decision was a factor in reconsidering the decision to keep Pierce.
“We got a lot of flak from the university and some students,” Pauline said. “People were pretty upset that the senate made that decision. I called Krispy on Sunday and asked him to resign, just to save the organization and myself from dealing with all this crap.”
Rick Barga, chair of the Independent Officers Selection Committee, the committee which recommended Pierce for the job in the first place, also asked Pierce to resign, as did speaker of the senate Rick Prescott. Pierce refused these requests.
In the emergency USG meeting, Pierce said the university took no action against him as a result of the harassment complaints filed last April, a claim Pauline said is false.
“Friday we got a couple of letters regarding the case and it turned out Kris pretty much lied to the senate and myself when he said the university didn’t do anything and he didn’t suffer any consequences,” Pauline said. “Clearly, from the letters, he did.”
Pauline was referring to a letter sent last April to Amy Huizinga, the woman who accused Pierce of harassment, by human resource consultant Carmeen Yarbrough. The letter states “the testimony and documentation provided indicates that there is sufficient evidence to indicate a violation of the university’s sexual harassment policy.”
Human Resources also recommended Pierce be removed from his management position at Royer Marketplace and leave Drakett Tower, where both he and Huizinga lived.
“Whatever the case, he had to change his normal lifestyle,” Pauline said. “You don’t wake up one day and say, ‘I’m going to move out of my house and quit my job.’. You do that because someone told you to.”
Although Pauline didn’t know exactly when USG will decide the matter, he said the outcome is clear.
“It’s pretty evident that he’ll be removed, not because of the sexual harassment charges but because of the fact he lied to the senate.”
Pierce declined to comment.
