Seniors Challenge Marshal Election

A petition circulated in the dining halls yesterday noon and evening, asking that the four Senior Class Marshals resign and that a new election be held, has gained the support of "over 450 seniors" according to Bernard I. Gladieux '59 who supervised the signing in Dunster House.

It stated that "we the undersigned have noted among the members of the class of 1959 a feeling of surprise at the results of the first election (held on Dec. 11) .... We believe that it would be in the best interests of the class to clear up the current atmosphere of unrest by holding a new election under the auspices of some obviously impartial body."

The petition made four points:

1) It is "obviously improper" to have the Student Council run the election when its president is a leading candidate.

2) No neutral observers were permitted to watch the ballot-counting.

3) One candidate's name was badly mispelled.

4) The date of the election coincided with Final Club elections.

This action culminated a long series of meetings with students and deans concerning possible dishonety in the running of the election. Immediate denial of any such allegations came quickly from several sources.

Dean Monro told the CRIMSON yesterday, "I feel that there was no dishonesty in the election. I believe that it was not well-handled, but honestly run."

A similar statement came from Hastings Wyman, Jr. '60, co-chairman of the Elections Committee: "As far as I know the election was honest. The rules were followed carefully and the procedures were essentially those used in last year's election."

The Marshals themselves split into two factions, with Robert R. Foster '59 standing in favor of a new election if a sufficient number of seniors, through the petition, should demand it. Foster is second Marshal. The other two Marshals, Marc E. Leland '59 and R. Dyke Benjamin '59, and alternate Marshal Richard E. Ruben- stein '59 issued a joint statement claiming that the election was "honest and legitimate," and asked the Senior Class "to deny this petition (its) support."

One important point, however, remained very much in mystery as of last night. No one seemed to know what to do with the petition, or how many names might be deemed conclusive. Monro and Dean Watson indicated that they had no official action to take unless some specific proof of dishonesty were brought forward, but the backers of the petition, Gladieux among them, said that they hoped to give the petitions to the Dean's Office.

Monro added that, as far as he knew, the power to call for a new election rested with the Council and its president, Leland, thus putting Leland in a key position on both sides of the affair