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Rick Perry, the U.S. energy secretary and former governor of Texas, on Wednesday published an essay (subscription required) in The Houston Chronicle questioning the recent student body election at Texas A&M University, his alma mater. The top vote getter was disqualified based on a violation of rules on campaign expenses. As a result, Bobby Brooks was elected. Brooks is the first openly gay student to be elected to the position, and the outcome resulted in numerous articles in Texas and elsewhere noting that accomplishment. Perry's op-ed suggests that the university wanted to promote an image of itself as diverse and so imposed a tougher penalty than it should have on the top vote getter. The headline of Perry's piece is: “Did A&M shun due process in the name of ‘diversity’?” and he suggests the election may have been “stolen.”
Amy Smith, Texas A&M's vice president of marketing and communications, denied Perry's accusations. In an interview with The Texas Tribune, she said students oversee the election process and set the rules. “I would say that we respectfully disagree with his assessment, and his understanding of the election rules of student body president elections doesn’t reflect the facts.”
Added Smith: “Honestly, we were just surprised to see that the secretary of energy would take the time to weigh in in detail, and we respectfully disagree with his assessment of what happened.”
