by: Lexi White
Perhaps you received one of his mass emails. Perhaps you witnessed his passionate defense address at the Nominations and Elections Committee hearing. Perhaps you tuned into his radio show debut last Saturday night entitled “Ernestly Speaking.” Or maybe, just maybe, you were a “victim” to his controversial campaigning tactics in the competitive race for freshman class president. Regardless of how you first encountered freshman, Ernest Owens, one thing is likely true- the self-proclaimed “Penn Celebrity” said something that caught your attention. At the very least, you remembered his name.
Although the NEC disqualified Owens from the freshmen presidential election for having wrongfully submitted student votes against their knowledge, Ernest Owens was still named Class Representative of the Undergraduate Assembly, a title that now sits proudly atop his Facebook page and on the walls of several of his friends and followers. To say that Ernest Owens has acquired an audience in his short time at Penn would be an understatement, but even amidst his followers are students who question Ernest’s potential to properly “represent” both the freshman class as a whole and the black student community in particular. In light of the controversy surrounding Owens’ campaign, such concerns carry legitimacy.
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