Friday, July 29, 2011 | 1:14 p.m.
When Robert Maxey was elected UNLV student body president last year by 175 votes, only to be disqualified by student leaders for supposedly improper campaigning, he appealed to the Student Code of Conduct Board and the student government’s Judicial Council.
After they refused to hear his complaint, and the university administration said it wouldn’t interfere with the student government’s decision, Maxey did what many politicians do: He took the matter to court. He sued the university, its student government and the runner-up candidate who ended up as president (a job that comes with about $14,700 in pay as well as a tuition and fee waiver).
His complaint: He had been denied free speech during his campaign, as well as denied due process because his election was overturned at a meeting that was not held in accordance with open-meeting laws.
Well, Maxey is still not student body president, but he has won a $20,000 settlement, approved by student government and signed off by U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Lawrence Leavitt.
Among the issues at the time, according to UNLVs student newspaper, the Rebel Yell, were that Maxey’s campaign signs were too big, and that his and his running mate’s expense reporting didn’t match.
Maxey’s attorney, Peter Goatz — himself a former UNLV student body president — said student government campaign rules were ambiguous.
UNLV legal counsel Richard Linstrom said the settlement was the best way to put the incident behind them.
“The most important thing to me was serving the students,” says Maxey, 26, who also says he plans to run for future office. “I had it in my heart that I was going to make a change.”
His platform: Better address budget issues and establish a new parking fee schedule so that the farther away you park, the less you pay.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy