Tyrant Walker, S.A. President

By Sean Cooley
Executive Editor

Student Association President Tyronne Walker has gone too far. He has barred campus media from what should be public Executive Board meetings and apparently forbidden E-Board members from talking with reporters. So much for democracy.

During a Sept. 19 meeting, told me and Jeff Morton of The Echo that E-Board meetings, where major decisions about the S.A. are made, had always been closed to the public. When asked to point to the S.A. Procedure Manual passage allowing that, Walker replied, "I know that it doesn't say anywhere in the handbook that the meetings are closed, but it doesn't say anywhere that they are open, either."

Walker's answer left me to wonder exactly what the E-Board, elected by the student body, discusses in its closed meeting. Red flags go up anytime a government body is operating behind closed doors. I asked him a few more times why E-Board meeting are closed. Walker arrived at the conclusion that "these are my damn meetings and I don't want The Defender or The Echo in my damn meetings."

In a second meeting that Monday afternoon, Walker became more vocal with Morton and me about keeping "his" E-Board meetings private. "Can you go into the ... U.S. Cabinet meeting when you want to?" he asked, using a profanity The Defender won't print. He insisted we could not and that E-Board meetings were no different.

Further claiming ownership of the E-Board, Walker has asked other members not to talk with representatives from The Echo, spurred by an Echo article about the fall concert that Walker did not want published. He said that by investigating the issue, both The Defender and The Echo were "trying to spark controversy instead of reporting facts." "This shit is lazy journalism ... trash journalism ... you make up shit," Walker said.

While Walker firmly denies that he requested the E-Board not speak with The Echo, six of the eight other members say otherwise. (Vice President Dave O' Connor and Secretary of Student Life Jon Holdsworth could not be reached.) We asked: Did Tyronne Walker tell you not to talk with The Echo or The Defender?

Greg Tobey: "Yes, he did."

Liz Steele: "Yes, we were told that nothing is allowed to leave the E-Board unless it goes through the E-Board first."

Arly Scully: "I'm going to have to say 'no comment' for right now. I'd be more comfortable talking to Tyronne first before talking to anyone. It's a touchy subject."

Michelle Kayser: "I don't know what's going on. Talk to Tyronne. I don't know what you're talking about."

Gabe Gladding: "I really can't talk right now."

Walker has abused his power. Rather than opening the lines of communication between campus government and students, he has chosen to censor anyone who might criticize the S.A. Through his words and actions, Walker has proven he treats the S.A. less like a democracy than a dictatorship. Is this really the person our student body elected as S.A. president? More important, do we want to keep him?

This editorial appeared in the Sept. 21, 2005 edition of The Defender, St. Michael's College student newspaper. Jeff Morton, co-executive editor of The Echo, contributed to this editorial.