Tempers flared during a confrontation March 21 between a UW-Madison residence-hall housefellow and two candidates for public office.

According to student witnesses, Supv. Echnaton Vedder, District 5, and Ald. Tom Powell, District 5, were soliciting votes in Kronshage Hall when they were asked by a housefellow to leave the hall in accordance with a university policy that forbids door-to-door campaigning and literature distribution in residence halls.

The housefellow, who requested to remain unidentified, said when she noticed the two candidates campaigning within the residence hall, she asked them to leave.

Vedder and Powell reportedly said they would leave, but the housefellow said they were still in the dorm approximately 20 minutes later. She said a verbal argument ensued during which the two candidates were “not nice.”

The housefellow said she later warned Vedder and Powell that if they tried to campaign in any other residence halls, she would call the police.

UW-Madison sophomore Katherine Bayleff, a Kronshage resident, said she witnessed a verbal dispute between her housefellow and Powell after she warned them against campaigning in other residence halls.

Powell denied remaining in the hall 20 minutes and said he and Vedder “were respectful; we were calm.”

According to the Student Organization Handbook, candidates for public office can post fliers by permission in residence halls after registering as a student organization but that “door-to-door contact with residents is prohibited.”

The housefellow said she was told during job training that such practices were illegal and that if candidates attempted to solicit in residence halls, the housefellow should ask them to leave.

Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said the residence-hall policy requires campaigners to be accompanied by a resident, even if just distributing literature.

“It is a universally known university policy that has always been in place; they ban campaigning unless you are escorted by a resident,” Verveer said.

He said year after year, local candidates bring campaigning into university buildings.

While Vedder admits to knowing about the policy, he said he opposes it and has been going door-to-door in residence halls to rally support for his campaign since early to mid-February.

He said he understands that members of the university’s housing staff have a right to ask him to leave but that running a campaign for public office requires door-to-door contact.

“We have to go out and talk to the folks,” Vedder said. “I know [the housefellows] are just doing their job, but we’re also just doing our jobs.”

Powell also disagrees with UW’s policy. He said most local politicians campaign in residence halls, including well known Senators and Representatives, like Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.

“The policy is a bad policy. There is a long tradition of candidates going door-to-door,” he said.

Other local candidates have campaigned in residence halls, according to student sources. Chadbourne resident, UW freshman Nick Dahl said both Vedder and his challenger for the District 5 County Board race, Ion Skillrud, have stopped by his room.

He said Vedder even had a table set up near the cafeteria.

“When [Vedder] stopped by our room, he just gave a mutual hello and handshake and offered to give us a call to remind us to vote,” he said.

Dahl did not know whether either candidate was accompanied by a Chadbourne resident while campaigning.

Skillrud said he is aware of UW’s policy, but likes to campaign in residence halls using loopholes in the rules.

“When I was at Chadbourne a few times, I just had a friend show me around and introduce me to a few of his friends; I never really went door-to-door,” he said. “When I was at Lakeshore trying to encourage students to vote, I’d mostly just chill in a friend’s room and have them bring people over to meet me.”

Vedder said he has never had a problem campaigning in university residence halls before the evening in question.

“There is usually a mutual understanding,” he said. “I’m totally OK with leaving [when they ask].”

While he confirmed that a confrontation occurred, Vedder gave a different account of the events.

He said he and Powell started to leave Kronshage after the housefellow asked them to, but that several people entering the hall stopped them to ask questions about the campaign literature they carried, which kept them in the building.

He said a “little bit of heightened yelling” from the housefellow followed.

“It was basically a miscommunication,” he said.