Student Body Presidential Candidates Respond to Student Concerns over Campaign Posters 

SGA Presidential candidate Cayden Morschauser and Vice-Presidential Candidate Hayden Arnoldi said Wednesday that they will keep the controversial Jerusalem Cross in their campaign’s promotional material. 

The response came during the SGA Candidate Forum, where students expressed concerns regarding the cross’s usage by far-right extremists and white nationalists. 

“It does have those connections,” said Arnoldi. “But that’s not why we put it in there at all, it was just to symbolize servitude.”  

Arnoldi admitted they were not aware of the extent that the Jerusalem cross had been used in far-right political contexts. He reiterated that the cross was intended to display their faith and their servitude to the student body. 

“Regarding the alt-right contexts, they used an altered version, it’s not the same one as us,” said Morschauser. “Our symbol represents me, it represents Hayden, it represents some of the student body, but it doesn’t exclude anybody.” 

Far-right groups have used variations and the original cross.  

While the Jerusalem cross has religious meaning outside of the far-right, the symbol and variations of it were on display during the 2017 ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The symbol, along with other crusade images and iconography, has been adopted by far-right groups.  

Some students who attended the forum were disappointed with the response from Morschauser and Arnoldi regarding the cross. 

“You’ve hurt people with this campaign,” said Kyra Hagen, a UWSP student who spoke to the candidates during the forum.  

Hagen expressed their grievances to the candidates, citing that many students felt excluded and worried about the political implications of the symbol. She said the candidates’ responses to these concerns came off as “dismissive.”  

Hagen was joined by other students with similar concerns during the forum. 

Despite the concerns from the student body, Troy Seppelt, Dean of Students, said that the posters containing the Jerusalem cross do not break any rules. 

“When a student, community member, or faculty member raises a concern, we always run it against university policy,” he said. “Nothing in the posters violates university policy.” 

Morschauser and Arnoldi are currently running uncontested in this race, meaning that students will only be able vote for them or a write-in option. The ballot for Student Body President opens March 7 and closes March 13. Students will be able to vote online and there will be no campaigning from candidates during this period.

Derek Tritz

Contributor | The Pointer

[email protected]