Light on signatures, Gilroy had big ideas

After junior Dylan Gilroy failed to receive enough signatures to appear on the ballot for student body president, one thing became clear: He had no narwhals up his sleeve.

Gilroy could not replicate the success of Nash Keune’s campaign a year ago, one that saw the joke candidate earn more than 800 votes in the general elections — and the construction of a 12-foot “narwhal castle” outside Wilson Library.

Gilroy, the self-described joke candidate, said he collected “three or five” signatures, 1,247 or 1,245 signatures fewer than he needed to be certified.

He said he will turn them in to the Board of Elections today, the extended deadline for candidates who did not meet the requirement by Tuesday.

Gilroy said he did not look to Keune’s campaign for inspiration. But he respected it.

“Great minds think alike,” he said.

What Gilroy did have up his sleeve was fast food. Had he won, Gilroy said his first goal would have been to bring a Bojangle’s restaurant to campus.

“N.C. State has one,” he said. “It’s the one thing they’re beating us in.”

Gilroy said Cookout and Taco Bell would also have been on his campaign menu.

He said the decision to run on the issue of fast food was made on a whim. And his campaign failure hasn’t left a bad taste in his mouth.

“I just thought it would be interesting,” he said.

“I didn’t try.”

Anthony Dent, chairman of the UNC College Republicans, who worked on Keune’s campaign, said Keune succeeded because of his personality.

“It is very difficult to pull off,” Dent said. “He was kind of made for the role.”

Keune declined to comment Thursday on his candidacy.

Dent added that joke candidacies can be used to illuminate the pomposity of student elections.

“You have people who had 50-page manifestos,” he said. “Keune was just trying to bring the elections back down to earth.”

Joey Guy, the other original candidate who did not advance to the ballot, dropped out of the race, citing duties at his fraternity and job.

“Adding this to my plate would be very difficult,” he said.

Gilroy said he discovered during his campaign that being a declared candidate also serves as a good opportunity not to sign petitions.

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