A man dressed in a Unite Party shirt and a Darth Vader mask joined Student Government party campaigners twice on Turlington Plaza on Monday.
He held up a poster that said "Obey the Empire" on one side and "Jesse Schmitt, I am your father" on the other. Neither party claimed him as a member.
Jesse Schmitt is the Student Body vice president candidate for the Students Party. SG elections for the Student Senate and the executive offices begin today and are scheduled to end Wednesday night.
Unite Party spokeswoman Christina Bonarrigo said she was told he showed up at about 10 a.m. and then again around noon. When campaigners for the Unite Party and the Students Party told the man he had to stop, he ran off, she said.
None of the Unite Party members knew anything about the man, Bonarrigo said.
Brock Hankins, campaign manager for the Unite Party, said he doubted the man is affiliated with either party.
Alex Cornillie, the Student Body president candidate for the Students Party, said he specifically instructed party members to run a positive campaign.
"We didn't even print contrast fliers," he said.
He also said he doesn't think the person was affiliated with either political party, and he said the man definitely wasn't with the Students Party.
Bonarrigo pointed out that the Vader figure appeared during classes, not between them, when students flood Turlington Plaza.
"I honestly believe this was someone trying to play a prank," she said.
A man dressed in a Unite Party shirt and a Darth Vader mask holds up a poster that reads "Obey the Empire" on Turlington Plaza on Monday.
