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Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Thursday, March 5, 2026 Vol. 79 No. 6
THE student voice since 1960
‘NO EVIDENCE OF THREATS’
Student says Title IX director dismissive of sexual harassment case DYLAN HEMBROUGH editor-in-chief Content Warning: This story contains discussion of sexual harassment and assault. Junior psychology student Kerrigan Shay said he was sexually harassed by his roommate on campus on Jan. 26. The next day, he met with Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity, Access and Title IX Coordination Mary Zabriskie to open a case, but the meeting left him confused and frustrated rather than comforted.
‘And he still did this’
Shay said his roommate moved in on Friday, Jan. 23. While they were getting to know each other, Shay noticed that something was off. “[My roommate] was like, ‘I don’t know what your boundaries are on this, but I don’t necessarily have … issues doing sexual things with roommates, wheth-
er that’s sleeping with them or year, he was also taken to court tag-teaming,’” Shay said to As- by five different people in 2013, sistant Director of the Office of 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021 and Equal Opportunity, Access and 2025 as the defendant in cases Title IX Coordination Mindy seeking an order of protection. Kinnaman in a Jan. 30 meet“I have PTSD from sexual ing, according to a transcript of assault and domestic violence. the conversaIt’s happened tion. “And I to me multiple said that was times without weird.” any consequencShay had es for anyone,” I said the words, confided in Shay said. “[My ‘Help me,’ and his roommate r o o m m a t e] that he had knew that bethat wasn’t post-traumatic fore he did this. good enough.” stress disorHe learned that, der because and he made it of previous clear he underKerrigan Shay sexual traustood what I Junior psychology student ma. Shortly was saying, and after this, the he still did this.” roommate told Shay he had prior Instead of respecting those convictions of domestic violence. boundaries, Shay said his roomIndependent research by mate tried to set up a sexual enThe Alestle showed that the counter between Shay, himself roommate was convicted of ag- and another person. Shay regravated battery and great bodily fused, saying, “Leave me out of harm in 2013 and pled guilty to it,” and reached out to his neightwo counts of aggravated domes- bor for help, but his neighbor detic battery in 2020. Before this fended the roommate.
“
“I texted the neighbor next to me, “Help me, I have this trauma, and I don’t wanna do hookups,” and he said, ‘You just need to be more definitive,’” Shay said. “I said the words, “Help me,’ and that wasn’t good enough.” Shay then texted his friend, freshman student Kip MacDonald. “I was like, ‘You need to get out of that place now,’” MacDonald said. “So I got into my car and drove over to his apartment and took him to my dorm room.” MacDonald said they encouraged Shay to report the incident to the university. “If we brought up [the roommate’s] criminal past and this incident in specific, I felt like they would really listen,” MacDonald said. “Well, that was the most ironic thing I ever said in my entire life.”
‘No evidence of threats’
The next day, Shay and MacDonald had a meeting with
Zabriskie. From the very start of the meeting, Shay said he had little hope. “I said, ‘My name’s Kerrigan,’ and she said, ‘Okay, Gary…’” Shay said. “We’re like, ‘No his name’s Kerrigan, and she didn’t acknowledge that,” MacDonald said. “So she got out a piece of paper which she ripped out of a notebook, and she wrote down ‘Kerrigan’ and then ‘Gary’ in front of it.” Shay then told Zabriskie what had happened the night before and showed her a series of texts from the roommate from that morning. While he did apologize in those texts, the roommate tried to justify the incident by saying he was trying to help Shay to “toughen up” and “act like a man.” “I know last night I put you in some uncomfortable positions. I hope that positive growth and momentum came from it,” the roommate wrote. “We don’t see TITLE IX on page 4
Three tickets to contend for Student Government in 2026 election Nestor becomes first president in 16 years to attempt second term
DYLAN HEMBROUGH editor-in-chief With three separate tickets for the executive board and a smaller Senate than in years prior, campaigning for the 2026 Student Government election has begun. The “For the Students” coalition is making a return this year, endorsing current Student President Jenna Nestor for re-election, current Senator for the College of Arts and Sciences David Ferrier as student vice president and current Head Justice Drew Evans as student trustee. Ferrier has served in his current role since the 2024 election, and Evans was appointed head justice in 2025 and oversaw the recent constitution revisions. The three core pillars of the Nestor-Ferrier campaign are advocacy, balance and connection — the “NestorFerrier ABCs.” The last time a sitting student president attempted re-election was in 2010, when Brandon Rahn secured a second term with no opponent. “I will continue serving as your student body president while building on our progress. I will amplify student voices and address concerns through advocacy, balance, and connection,” Nestor wrote in her campaign statement. “My main goal is to better the student experience by turning student concerns into action and progress for our campus.” Current senator for the Diversity Council Barrvone Bonner is running for student president as well, with current Freshman Senator Evan Cooper as the candidate for student vice president. With the campaign slogan “Action Over Apathy,” the Bonner-Cooper ticket plans on “leading with action” and “ensuring every student feels welcomed, valued and seen,” as well as “rooting out the apathy in Student Government,” according to their Instagram. The Bonner-
Cooper ticket was also endorsed by SIUE Collegiate 100, which Bonner serves on the executive board for. Bonner and Cooper were among four senators who did not vote in favor of the recent constitution revisions. “While the recent constitutional revisions do have some correlation to our decisions, it is not the only reason we are running together. While we both believe that diversity and equity are essential to a great SIUE, and we both were against the constitutional changes for that reason, we also believe that Student Government has become noticeably apathetic towards students in general,” Cooper wrote in an email to The Alestle. “We were motivated to run together because we both independently believe in a similar vision for SIUE’s future.” Senator for the School of Engineering Shihab Alseikh is also running for student president, with current Senator for the Diversity Council Julian Hartin as his vice presidential candidate. Alseikh and Hartin were the other two senators who did not vote in favor of the recent constitutional revisions, though Alseikh said this was “mainly a coincidence.” Their mission is to “advocate for students, strengthen representation and promote a shared campus identity where we see ourselves as one unified SIUE community,” according to their Instagram. “Serving as senators in Student Government gave us a firsthand understanding of both the strengths of the organization and the areas where it can improve,” Alseikh wrote in an email to The Alestle. “We saw opportunities to better connect the many communities across campus and to strengthen how Student Government prepares new senators. Too often, students enter the Senate without the guidance or enough training needed to fully succeed in their roles. We chose to run because we believe Student Government can do more
Note: Abuzaneh is running an independent campaign, but has been endorsed by the Alseikh-Hartin ticket as well. to support its members and better represent the entire SIUE community.” Current Student Trustee Mo Abuzaneh is running independently. Abuzaneh was elected as student trustee in an emergency election in Jan. 2025 and re-elected in the 2025 Student Government election, when he ran with and was endorsed by Nestor and the “For the Students” coalition. “My decision to run individually reflects my focus on the specific priorities and policies I want to continue working
on. I believe running independently allows me to stay fully centered on those goals and collaborate with a wide range of students and leaders across campus, rather than being aligned with a particular ticket,” Abuzaneh wrote in an email. “I remain committed to representing all students and to continuing the work I have already started.”
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