Aaron Terrazas/The Hoya Kelley Hampton (SFS ’05) is sworn in to her new position by former GUSA President Brian orgenstern (COL ’05).

Kelley Hampton (SFS ’05) and Luis Torres (COL ’05) were sworn in as GUSA president and vice-president Tuesday evening, ending a contested election that consumed the Student Association for nearly three months.

Constitutional Council Chair J.B. Horgan (SFS ’05) presented the results of the final appeal to the GUSA Assembly, following the same reasoning and arriving at the same split the decision as the Council’s March 27 ruling.

Horgan and Councilor Kevin Kim (SFS ’05) constituted the majority while Councilor Nate Wright (COL ’06) dissented.

The council overturned four fines for alleged campaign violations that included the sending of an improper e-mail and the placing of flyers inside THE HOYA to rebut an editorial that supported Adam Giblin (SFS ’06) and Eric Lashner (COL ’05).

Aaron Terrazas/The Hoya Defeated candidate Adam Giblin (SFS ’06) hears the results of the election.

The election had originally been decided on Feb. 9 in favor of Giblin and Lashner, who despite receiving the second-highest vote total, were named the winners by the Election Commission as a result of the violations and fees incurred by Hampton and Torres. The Commission had upheld their decision in two separate appeals.

The Election Commission presented the results of the executive election Tuesday night and the Assembly immediately approved the results by a 9-1-1 vote. Representative Annie O’Brien (NHS ’06) dissented and Representative Dito Mas (COL ’07) abstained. Ten representatives had worked for the Hampton-Torres campaign while three had campaigned for Giblin-Lashner.

After a 15-minute recess, the Assembly reconvened and Hampton and Torres took the oath of office from outgoing executives Brian orgenstern (COL ’05) and Steve de Man (COL ’04). orgenstern and de Man then exited the room to the applause of their peers and the Assembly adjourned.

“We’re clearly relieved that the process is finally at its end and we’re very glad that all parties can just move on,” Hampton said. “Our whole campaign was about inclusion. We’ve hit rock bottom and we’ll have to build back up.”

She and Torres will now be faced with the daunting task of assembling their administration in approximately six days. Normally, the process of appointing over 150 GUSA positions takes between four and six weeks.

Hampton indicated that the appointment process, while strenuous, would not pose an obstacle to the transition, as she and Torres have been preparing in recent weeks. Their first appointment was their campaign chair, Vikram Agrawal (SFS ’07), as chief of staff.

The final decision was a rapid end to an unprecedented and contentious battle that raised questions concerning how GUSA elections are conducted and questions as to the rules that govern the organization.

Although all the parties involved, including opposition candidates Adam Giblin (SFS ’06) and Eric Lashner (COL ’05) insist that they are moving forward with their lives, some rancor lingers.

“I disagree with the final outcome,” Morgenstern, who had campaigned for Giblin-Lashner, said. “I think that everyone campaigned under the same ground rules except the Hampton-Torres ticket. Basically, I’m disappointed because I do not think that it was a level playing field.”

Giblin said he was also dissatisfied.

“GUSA has a bad taste in my mouth right now, but the bigger fear is the taste in the mouths of the student body. GUSA’s legitimacy, which has been shaky at best over the past few years, has certainly taken a blow,” he said. “I wish Kelley and Luis the best, but they will have a hard time countering the `GUSA doesn’t do anything’ crowd even if they are quite effective. They will struggle to be effective, with a shortened term and a fractured electorate.”

Giblin also criticized the Constitutional Council.

“Today’s ruling itself was of course no surprise,” he said. “The leanings of the Constitutional Council were fairly clear from the last ruling, so we expected this one to go about the same.”

Far from defeated, he indicated that he will continue to actively participate in the campus community.

“I will not pack up my things and become a recluse – Georgetown means too much to me to do this. I have a vision for Georgetown that I will hopefully help fulfill in every step of my career here,” he said. “It’s been a wild ride, and I’m quite glad it’s over.”

Horgan defended his role by saying that he followed the existing rules, however flawed they were, because his job was only to interpret the laws, not rewrite them.

“If nothing else, this has taught people that if you have bad rules, they will come around and bite you in the end,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of the Election Commission, James Shea (COL ’04) had a similar message.

“We hope this is an experience that GUSA and the university as a whole can learn from and that practical revisions will be made.” He also expressed hope that all eight candidates who ran in February would “have a large part in looking at the election rules and take an active part in the reforms.”