After a disagreement about what took place at a meeting in September, College Republicans at IU backed out of the debate between their organization and the College Democrats at IU 22 hours before the event was set to begin.
The sets of notes from the September meeting between the two show a miscommunication. In certain places, the points discussed between Kegan Ferguson, Community Outreach director for the College Democrats at IU, and Brian Gamache, President of the College Republicans at IU, were almost word-for-word, including the same list of possible locations, potential debate issues and a 7 p.m. start time.
There was, however, one topic that reads differently from page to page.
Ferguson wrote, “Mad at Ari and don’t want him to debate, will discuss w/ board.”
In contrast, Gamache marked down, “Kegan agrees Ari is not involved in debate.”
A statement released online by the College Republicans on Sunday night confirmed that they were under the impression that senior Ari Hoffman would not be debating. In the statement, the Republicans blamed this incident for the debate cancellation.
“There has been a breach of trust between us,” it said.
Hoffman, a debate team member and director of student events for the College Democrats, was unafraid to admit he caused a disagreement with the IUGOP but said he believes he did nothing wrong.
Earlier in the election season, Hoffman said he attended an event for congressional candidate Trey Hollingsworth that was hosted by the Republicans but seemed to be open to anyone.
He said he planned to ask Hollingsworth about his views on big money in politics and then record the answer, a practice he referred to as tracking. This makes sure candidates are held responsible for what they say.
“It is my opinion that that practice is a beneficial one and should be encouraged,” Hoffman said.
Hoffman was not called on during the question-and-answer section, so he jumped in line when attendees were invited to talk to Hollingsworth one-on-one after the event, he said. Right before his turn to speak, however, Hoffman was asked to step into the hallway by Gamache. Thinking Gamache might want to talk about event planning, Hoffman agreed.
Once outside, Hoffman said Gamache asked him to leave because the IU Republicans don’t condone tracking and didn’t want Hoffman to record the candidate.
Under the law, Hoffman is allowed to record sound for any public meeting, according to the Digital Media Law Project website. Recording video and taking photos, while not explicitly addressed in the law, are generally accepted practices across the state.
Despite this, Hoffman said he did not talk to Hollingsworth that night and never made a recording of any type.
Ferguson denied ever telling Gamache that Hoffman would be removed from the debate. Since Ferguson is not president of the College Democrats at IU, he said he does not have the power to make that decision. He recalled saying he would bring it up with the Democrats’ executive board, which he did. They decided Hoffman should still debate, and did not realize the IU Republicans expected anything differently until Gamache called Sunday night.
“It’s a real disappointment to have them put petty political issues over policies,” Ferguson said.
Hoffman and Ferguson said they believe the Republicans didn’t want to face Hoffman in the debate and used the Hollingsworth event as an excuse to cancel.
One topic up for discussion was the Iran Deal. Hoffman said he is writing his senior thesis on Israeli nuclear policy, and he believes this intimidated the IU Republicans.
Gamache refused to comment in addition to the IU Republicans’ statement.
