JCR by-elections at St John’s College were enlivened this week by a less than serious candidate for the the position of Environment and Ethics officer.
Ben Lewy, a second year, grabbed the attention of voters by advocating controversial policies. One poster depicted Lewy holding a gun, next to a caption reading “Divest from arms companies? Bullshit”. Another candidate had called for an end to unethical investment.
The by-election, which took place on Monday evening, resulted in the appointment of Edward Love and Shaahin Pishbin to the position.
Lewy ran a controversial campaign, choosing to advocate policies that caused a stir in John’s.
On a poster, he pledged to “make sure that environmentalism just isn’t an issue in college.” He called upon voters to support him in his bid to tackle the problem that Global Warming poses to Oxford, saying that “As one of the city’s largest sources of hot air, our JCR has a duty to be part of the solution”.
During the hustings, candidates were grilled on their credentials for the role. When asked about the most unethical thing he’d ever done, Lewy replied, “I made someone cry once.”
The candidates were then questioned over their ability to annoy people, this being a desirable skill for cajoling the College authorities over environmental issues. Lewy duly replied by saying “I am really good at annoying people”.
The eventual winners, Love and Pishbin, commented that they did not feel the need to “lecture” on the importance of the role.
Phillip Coales came in second place, with Lewy bringing up the rear. Talking to Cherwell about his campaign and defeat, Lewy said, “I thought it was quite funny. Unfortunately, not enough other people did”.
Some people did appear enjoy the novelty campaign, with Lewy even managing to glean 21 of the 128 votes casts.
David Messling, JCR president, told Cherwell that he thought Lewy’s antics “were great for raising the profile of the JCR.”
Helen Austin, a member of the JCR committee at John’s, was sure that no one found the content of Lewy’s campaign offensive, albeit a distraction from the actual process of voting in new committee members.
The outgoing officer, Emma Fay, had effected changes to recycling in College and candidates for the position declared their intentions to “continue Emma’s excellent work” in the event of their success in the election.
