ANAK Society - Controversy

Controversy

In recent years, ANAK's influence and status as a secret society has raised suspicion and controversy among Georgia Tech students. In particular, the society had "fallen under heavy scrutiny" during a series of student government election scandals in the late 1990s.

In 1998, Marc D. Galindo, a Georgia Tech student and ANAK member, defeated competitor Vikas Chinnan in Student Government Association runoff elections after Chinnan was disqualified for repeated campaign violations. The disqualification, however, was eventually overturned by the Undergraduate Judiciary Cabinet (the judiciary branch of student government). Although Galindo had committed a similar (but not identical nor a repeated) campaign violation, the Elections Committee did not disqualify him. Galindo had used his staff account to distribute campaign information while Chinnan had repeatedly used academic email distribution lists not available to the general public. Allegations of corruption erupted when two members of the Elections Committee turned out to be Galindo's fellow ANAK members; however, no proof of wrongdoing was ever uncovered. Chinnan, at the time of the election, was dating Anu Khurana, the then-president of the ANAK Society. Chinnan had agreed with and acknowledged that Galindo had not wanted him to be "disqualified on a technicality".

A similar incident occurred at Georgia Tech the following year. During Student Government Association elections in 1999, rumors circulated that Wendy Horowitz, a candidate for Student Body President, was a member of ANAK. "Conspiracy theories" and "intense debate" ensued among students regarding the society's intentions, benevolent or otherwise. Horowitz lost the election, a result widely attributed to her purported ANAK affiliation. It was later revealed that Horowitz, in fact, had served as president of the ANAK Society for the 1999–2000 term.

As a result of these controversies, a general feeling of distrust towards the ANAK society propagated throughout the Georgia Tech campus, epitomized by an anonymous email circulated in 1999 that accused ANAK of "being the 'lapdog of President Clough' improperly influencing elections, scholarships, and the press, among other things". Critics expressed concern that ANAK members were shirking accountability for "their mistakes, their bad ideas, and their bad decisions" under the guise of eschewing "praise for their accomplishments". The Student Government Association's policy towards secret societies was called into question, resulting in a Joint Campus Organizations Committee (JCOC) resolution to consider the issue of accountability among student organization leaders. The controversial JCOC resolution, strongly opposed by ANAK representatives, would "require candidates for officer positions to recognize all campus affiliations including position and duration of involvement". The resolution failed, ensuring that ANAK membership rosters and meetings would continue to remain confidential.