Northwestern filed a motion earlier this month to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Evanston resident Judy Fiske, who accused the school of favoring her opponent, Cheryl Wollin, in April’s aldermanic elections.
“NU believes that the plaintiffs do not and cannot make a case that their civil rights were violated by the university,” NU’s Vice President and General Counsel Thomas Cline, said in an e-mail.
Richard Means, Fiske’s lawyer, said he is preparing briefs for the judge about his opposition to NU’s motion to dismiss, which was filed Jan. 6. If federal court decides to dismiss the case, Means said he and his client will probably challenge that decision.
But Means added they do not want to “keep appealing as a matter of principle” and that they want to see the issue resolved as soon as possible.
Wollin defeated Fiske to win the title of first ward alderman on April 5, 2005. Means said Wollin won because NU gave her an unfair advantage during the elections.
“We think we can prove a number of circumstances that specifically favor Cheryl Wollin in which the university took a hand,” Means said.
The First Ward includes all of the dormitories west of Sheridan Road, except for Jones Residential College and 1835 Hinman Ave.
Wollin’s lawyer also filed a motion to dismiss the suit in federal court in early January, Wollin said.
Means declined to comment on the specific circumstances favoring Wollin until the case is further along.
Means graduated from NU’s law school in 1968. He said he is practicing the law as he was taught.
“I am personally angry and embarrassed that my college did this,” he said.
Evanston resident Cindy Smith said regardless of whether NU is guilty of the alleged charges, the school should have been more cautious.
“They should bend over backward to appear very fair,” Smith said.
NU continues to deny charges that the university unfairly favored Wollin.
“I don’t agree with the premise that there was a ‘pro-NU candidate,'” Cline said. “In any event, it was the students’ decision for whom to vote. The suggestion that the university can control how students vote is absurd.”
By offering students a party and housing points for voting in the elections, Means said NU illegally bought votes and that those votes should not be counted. The university also misled students by giving them incorrect voting information, he said.
NU thinks the federal court does not have jurisdiction to decide who should win the elections, Cline said. Last June, a state court judge ruled that the Evanston City Council must chose an election winner, he said. But in October, aldermen decided not to vote on the election dispute.
“I could not see how the seating members, except for Cheryl, could sit in judgment of her,” Ald. Edmund Moran (6th) said.
Moran also said he did not want to judge the dispute because he contributed money to a defense fund for Wollin.
If aldermen are forced to decide the election, Moran said he will examine the evidence.
“I’m going to have to do as best as I possibly can to be fair to everyone and to follow the law,” he said.
Cline said NU is awaiting the judge’s decision on the motion to dismiss. NU has no plans to settle the case.
Reach Lensay Abadula at [email protected].
