Is Emily Dunson Gator Party’s president, or is it Danielle Grosse?
Campaign materials say one name, and registration forms say another.
Public records show Gator Party’s official Aug. 22 registration forms name Grosse, a former Impact affiliated Senate president, as president of the new party and Dunson as treasurer.
Documents also show an additional Aug. 27 registration form that names Grosse as Gator Party’s president and Richard Doan as treasurer, without mention of Dunson.
The SG Election Codes don’t explicitly state whether a party can change its treasurer after registration. SG elections are Tuesday and Wednesday.
On Aug. 27, the party submitted a Letter to the Editor to The Alligator announcing its establishmnent at 7:24 p.m. The letter named Dunson as president, Wynton White as spokesperson and Doan as treasurer.
“Welcome to the Gator Party,” the letter said. “Today, we are so excited to share our vision for the future of this university with you.”
Stephanie Siler, the SG supervisor of elections, received an updated registration for Gator Party on Aug. 27 with Doan as the party’s treasurer, she wrote in an email.
She said she received an email from Grosse that same day at 7:33 p.m. stating Dunson would serve as Gator Party’s president.
The party’s Facebook announcement on Aug. 28 and all subsequent campaign materials refer to Dunson as president.
The Alligator emailed, called and texted Dunson and Grosse asking for clarification on why the change was made. They did not respond.
White declined to comment.
Doan wrote in a text message, “On Aug. 27th, an additional form was submitted as an update to the previous Aug. 22nd form. The form submitted on Aug. 27th registers me, Richard Doan, as the party treasurer. With regards to the party president, Danielle transferred the party president title to Emily through the Supervisor of Elections via email on Aug. 27th.”
Doan didn’t respond to follow-up questions.
Leadership positions are not the only changes on these forms.
Public records show Grosse and Dunson registered as president and treasurer for nine parties on forms from Aug. 22: Ascend, Florida, Gator, Revive, Believe, Generation, Generate, Vision and Passion.
All nine forms were approved Aug. 22 and registered Aug. 23.
Inspire Party shared a Facebook post Friday late afternoon about the registration documents, which said students “don’t deserve to be lied to.”
“I’m afraid that students may be unaware of the dishonesty of Gator Party with respect to their leadership,” Inspire Party President Zachary Amrose said.
Student Government Budget and Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Emily Dunson gives the committee’s report. Dunson addressed the reason for budget increases in her report. (June 7,2018)
