For the record…

Now the dust has settled on the campaign, I feel now is the time to address comments that were being made about me during the course of this election. 

On several separate occasions, I have been told that students were being discouraged from voting for me on the basis that I had allegedly expressed support for the Israeli government, and/or for Benjamin Netanyahu.

For clarity, I have not made any statements about the conflict in the Middle East and any roumers to the contrary are categorically false. Throughout the campaign, I deliberately kept my focus on college and student issues rather than matters of foreign policy or international politics. 

I have been approached by multiple students independently raising variations of the same claim. I have also been informed by another candidate that similar comments had circulated through the student community on the ‘grapevine’. Most recently, I was directly told by students that they had not voted for me because they believed I was a supporter of Benjamin Netanyahu, despite me never expressing any such support. 

I have documented these incidents, including the dates, circumstances and what was said. 

Now is the time to set the record straight, because these are statements being attributed to me that I did not make. I am not making assumptions about who started or circulated these claims, nor do I want individual students to be targeted as a result of this statement. I simply believe that students should be able to make decisions about candidates based on what candidates have actually said and campaigned on rather than inaccurate statements being circulated. 

If anyone has any information as to when and where you may have heard these roumers, please contact me. 

I will leave the matter with the appropriate staff and continue to conduct myself respectfully towards everyone involved.

Ashton