When considering all of the things that make the University of Maryland great, junior communication major Kay Barwell said the “leading force is our diversity.”

In the upcoming Student Government Association election, Barwell is running for student body president on the Unity Party ticket, whose platform centers on nine goals, including promoting transparency within the SGA.

However, the Unity Party failed to disclose contributions on its April 9 campaign financial report. These contributions were in the forms of campaign logos designed by an affiliate of the national conservative nonprofit Turning Point, according to documents obtained by The Diamondback.
SGA election regulations prohibit accepting undisclosed financial or material support.
Barwell wrote in a statement that the logos came from her fiance’s cousin, who has a private graphic design business and is a graphic designer with Turning Point, but”accidentally sent the logo designs” through her Turning Point-affiliated email address.
This contradicts documents obtained by The Diamondback, but Barwell did not answer repeated phone calls, voicemails and text messages from The Diamondback, with questions about additional ties to Turning Point and the party failing to disclose contributions in the preliminary report. SGA rules also prohibit accepting donations from a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
The Unity Party platform includes other initiatives, such as preventing sexual assault by advocating for more lighting on the campus and in student housing areas, encouraging organizations to hold events for free self-defense training, and making medical, psychological and emotional resources more accessible for those affected by sexual assault.
“I believe that my background and experiences can help contribute to SGA and better campus life for all students,” Barwell wrote in a Facebook post.

Ryan Walsh, the Unity Party candidate for financial affairs vice president, described Barwell — who is also the treasurer for this university’s CHAARG chapter — as “easygoing yet strong-willed, intelligent and analytical.”

“She has the ability to put her foot down and simultaneously pick people up when need be,” the sophomore finance major said. “She’s always open to new ideas and is great at coming to reasonable and calculated conclusions.”

[[Read more: UMD SGA announces parties and candidates for the 2017-18 school year]]

Freshman operations management and business analytics major Jonathan Ciavolino, a Unity Party candidate for the undergraduate studies legislative seat, declined to comment about Barwell, as he would like to allow the student community to see how she performs in order to form their own impressions, he said. Ciavolino currently serves as the SGA freshman connection representative.

The Unity Party published its platform on Facebook after the UMD One Party began to post on social media, asking where its opposing party’s platform is.

“We want to ‘have a real conversation,'” the party wrote in a Facebook post, modeling its words after the Unity Party’s campaign slogan. “But we can’t without your platform.”