Student Body President Kevin Reilly and Senate President Kellie Dale have verified the authenticity of private e-mails sent between them and other Student Government officials concerning summer Senate appointments and committee assignments.
Printouts of the e-mails, all from Gmail accounts, were anonymously mailed to the Alligator on Oct. 1. The e-mails were sent among Reilly, Dale, Senate Pro-Tempore MaryGrace Bell and Executive Affairs Director Matthew Goldberger from May 17 to May 23.
Reilly said the officials used their Gmail accounts because they didn't consider the subject matter to be official business.
"The e-mails in question are conversations that are political in nature and are part of a political party," Reilly said in a Sunday phone interview.
He said Dale and Bell asked him who he thought would make good candidates to fill vacant seats in Senate for summer.
Reilly said the Senate was going through a tense period in May because the Orange and Blue Party called for Dale - a Gator Party senator - to resign and was also trying to impeach Student Body Treasurer Paul Drayton - also of the Gator Party - for spending most of the summer interning in New York City.
One e-mail from Dale included instructions to keep Orange and Blue Party members out of certain committees and throw "hardball questions" at the party's senators applying for Senate committee seats.
In a Sunday phone interview, Dale said her instructions made to Bell, Replacement and Agenda Committee chairwoman, were in an effort to make the interviewing process for Senate committees consistent and fair for both parties.
The Replacement and Agenda Committee, of which Dale is also a member, is in charge of nominating students to fill vacant positions in Senate and committees.
Although Reilly and Dale said the e-mails were private, the discussion could violate Student Body Statutes.
Sandra Chance, executive director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information and UF journalism professor, said when two or more members of a public body discuss business, the conversations have to be properly noticed at open meetings because of Florida Sunshine laws.
Because Student Government is funded by students' Activity & Service Fees and not the state, it is not subject to Sunshine laws, said Alexis Lambert, Sunshine Law attorney for the Office of the Attorney General. However, SG agrees to operate under the Sunshine laws in Chapter 102 of the Student Body Statutes.
"If they've agreed in their constitution to mirror the rules, then they've got a problem," Lambert said.
Dale, who will leave her post as Senate president Tuesday, said she thinks the Senate has made some strides during her tenure as president, but SG officials should undergo open-government training before taking office.
Reilly said he was not aware their discussions could count as a violation of Sunshine laws.
"I was asked to make some recommendations, and I did," he said.
Alligator editors Hilary Lehman and Ken Schwencke contributed to this report.
