by Alec Williams
The 2016 presidential election may have concluded last week, but the effects of the bruising campaign efforts still linger on the CMU campus. On Friday, Nov. 11, CMU President Tim Foster disclosed the repercussions for Stanton Heister, a business professor who allowed representatives from Work for Progress and Fair Share Action, a super political action committee, to stump for the election of Hillary Clinton during two of his classes.
“We’ve concluded to do two things. One, [Heister’s] tenure track status will be put on suspension for two years,” Foster said. “And secondly, he will not receive a pay adjustment this year. Everybody else is anticipating two and two and a half percent, and he will not get that.”
Though Clinton lost the election, the classroom visits questioned the place for politics in the classroom, and its legality. Barbara Case King, a former lawyer and former director of human resources for CMU, investigated the classroom visits for the university.
The visits, though legal action is unlikely, may have violated Colorado’s Fair Campaign Practices Act and the federal government’s Hatch Act, both of which prohibit state employees from using work time or resources for political activities.
“My job, I think, is just to find the facts. And to find out what the student’s observed, how they felt, whether or not Professor Heister was aware of what was going to be talked about,” Case King said on Oct. 28. “Whether he exercised due diligence, if you will, in inviting Work for Progress into the classroom and then present the information to the [university] president.”
On Oct. 18, the Criterion originally published the existence of what was believed to be one visit by a Clinton campaign supporter. The following weeks revealed that this visit happened on more than one occasion and that the information presented were not consistently clear.
It was originally believed by CMU administration that Work for Progress visited only one class on Sept. 22, but after a student reached out to CMU President Tim Foster, it was revealed it happened on another separate occasion.
“At that point then it becomes a little more serious,” Foster told the Criterion on Oct. 21.
Heister received an email on Sept. 20 from Nikki Caravelli, a recruitment director for Work for Progress and Fair Share Action, who asked Heister if she may speak in his classes concerning “non-profit job opportunities for students.” Heister responded back and invited the representatives to visit his classrooms.
Earlier in the email received by Heister, Caravelli wrote: “With just a few weeks left until the election, we’re hiring full or part time field staff to help elect Hillary Clinton as our next President and keep Donald Trump out of the White House.”
Though the email was deleted by Heister later after the visits, the Criterion was given a copy following a request to CMU administration.
Carvelli and another representative from Work for Progress spent class time on Sept. 21 and Sept. 22 advocating for the election of Clinton and collected information from students who expressed interest in working for their organization.
Case King spent a week fact-collecting and speaking with students of Heister, many of whom told her that in prior classes Heister never revealed his political affiliation.
Foster sent an email to all faculty and staff on June 21 of this year concerning these legal issues.
“These restrictions are complex, but in summary using state resources to advocate for a political candidate or issue is simply prohibited,” Foster wrote in the email.
Foster spoke with Heister on Friday, Nov. 11, and explained the decision CMU administration had made, though, Heister will be able to comment on the decision with his opinion.
“I told him we can get together on Monday and if he wants to make some comment back or thinks it’s too harsh or has some disagreement with our conclusions, he can voice those,” Foster said on Friday. “But, I will be sending him something in writing Monday or Tuesday after that meeting, and at that point, he has his 14 days to respond.”
