A group of students rallied on the south side of Anthony Hall Tuesday afternoon to support several candidates in Wednesday’s and Thursday’s campus-wide elections.

Student Trustee Jesse Cler has dealt with his name being removed from the ballot twice throughout his campaign for re-election, but he has since been approved for candidacy because Undergraduate Student Government voted to recommend his return to it. Cler held the rally not to fight for his right for trustee, but to express his message as a voice for the students.

Cler was informed March 21 that opposing candidate Nolan Sharkey filed a complaint against his petition regarding some signatures’ validity. The election commission’s first meeting determined Cler would be removed from the ballot, but Sharkey said neither candidate was invited to it.

Cler appealed the decision and appeared before a committee that included Graduate Professional Student Council members and USG members, and the committee ruled to return his name to the ballot. Shortly after, GPSC voted against Cler and he was removed again. Sharkey, a GPSC member, said he refrained from the council’s vote, and Cler was not present at the meeting.

The Election Commission proceeded to vote twice against Cler’s return to the ballot. but none of the undergraduate commission members were present during the second meeting because of class schedule conflicts.

The commission then voted with only the three graduate students present. Because of this, USG felt the undergraduate student body wasn’t represented in the decision, Senator Adrian Miller said. USG ruled in Cler’s favor Friday.

Sharkey said Cler received approval as a write-in candidate on the ballot, but interim Dean of Students Katherine Sermersheim decided to put Cler back on the ballot Tuesday morning.

“I believe (Sermersheim) overstepped her boundaries,” he said.

The entire conflict centered around Cler not following the rules clearly laid out for both candidates, Sharkey said. USG and GPSC ratified the rules, called the Student Trustee Election Laws, earlier this semester, he said.

Despite the conflict and with his name back on the ballot, Cler held a “Unite and Fight” rally Tuesday morning to promote his campaign and what he hopes to do as student trustee.

“We need to have the governor replace each position on the Board of Trustees so we can continue our business,” Cler said. “We have missed our past two Board of Trustees meetings … This is a time that we need to fight. It’s not that we don’t have a voice, but it’s time to show that we do — that we do care about this university.”

Cler said he may not be able to stop tuition increase because of budget conflicts that surround the issue.

“I’m not going to tell you that tuition’s never going to raise,” he said. “I’m going to tell you that I’m going to vote for what’s right. We’re going to keep (tuition) down as low as we can.”

Cler said he thinks SIU doesn’t have the best reputation compared to other Illinois universities.

“We are not the lowest campus in this state, but we are just as good as every other university in this state,” he said. “It’s time for us to show it.”

Several students said they support Cler in his re-election efforts.

Katie Gehrt, a senior from Gifford studying agriculture, said it’s unfair that the graduate students are trying to undermine the undergraduate’s voices. She said Cler has been mistreated in the crossfire.

“He’s done a great job so far,” she said, “The undergraduate population is so much greater than the graduate population.”

Mike Entler, a junior from Decatur studying agriculture systems technology, said Cler is involved on campus and is knowledgeable of the student body.

“Jesse is not one that has ulterior motives,” he said. “He’s here to help the students and get our voice heard.”

Although Gehrt said Cler had been treated unfairly, Sharkey said the conflicts have nothing to do with the graduate student body undermining the undergraduates.

Sharkey said he has a history of supporting Gov. Pat Quinn, among other politicians, and has had his support used against him as a result. However, he said his history has nothing to do with his own campaign, and people are simply connecting dots that don’t really connect.

Sharkey said his campaign centers around enrollment and improving campus safety to stop enrollment decrease. The campus was recently named one of the most dangerous campuses in the country, in a ranking by Business Insider, he said.

“A university cannot grow if you’re going to have publications like that come out,” he said. “One of our number one priorities is to ensure we get off that list.”

Sharkey said he also supports keeping tuition as low as possible.

“One of the best things we can do to help southern Illinois out is to make sure our education is successful to any individual who is eligible to come to the university,” he said.