Two elected officials in the undergraduate Student Association (SA) have obtained no-contact orders against each other through the university, with each student accusing the other of harassment and stalking.
SA Senator Grant Peterson accused incoming Treasurer Laron Fomby — his former friend turned opponent in this spring’s SA e-board elections — of asking invasive and uncomfortable questions about his sexual and relationship history, making assumptions about his sexuality and forcing a late-night, private conversation in a classroom throughout December and January.
Fomby returned the allegations against Peterson, saying that Peterson was in the Ellicott Complex — where Fomby lives — every other night from 8:30 p.m. to 1 a.m., and has made “racial and homophobic” comments throughout the fall and spring semesters.
The two now share a mutual no-contact order — a university directive that prohibits contact, whether in-person, electronic means or through a third party — which Fomby shared to The Spectrum. The order is not disciplinary and is not considered misconduct in a student’s record, but violations of it may lead to sanctions under UB’s Student Code of Conduct.
Peterson filed for the order April 14 at UB’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) office. Fomby told The Spectrum that he sought out a no-contact order against Peterson at EDI weeks before that, about a week before the e-board elections’ voting period started on March 30. He says the university told him to wait until the elections were over on April 3 to proceed.
Peterson “keeps escalating the situation” with “constant harassment, constant stalking,” Fomby told The Spectrum.
Fomby filed a UPD report after being informed of the order on April 21. That report states that Fomby is “fearful of Peterson possibly harming him.”
Fomby plans to obtain an order of protection — a court directive to “limit the behavior of someone who harms or threatens to harm another person” — against Peterson.
Peterson said that he sees his friends who are residents at the Ellicott Complex one to three times every two weeks, and hasn’t seen Fomby since the elections ended.
The two have had a tense history throughout the spring semester, when Peterson chose to run under a different party against Fomby’s during the 2026-27 SA e-board elections. Both students say that Fomby ended the friendship in February.
Fomby had also told The Spectrum in late February that Peterson often made comments like, “You’re gay, so you must suck good d–k,” despite asking “all the time” for him to stop. Peterson has denied the claims, alleging that Fomby offered for Peterson to sit on his dorm room bed in December, then asking about his relationship and sexual history; which Fomby called “the biggest lie I ever heard.”
Peterson also alleged that during a group hangout in January — when the two were still on friendly terms — Fomby made comments about Peterson’s sexuality, where he ranked Peterson “seven out of 10 gay” and that he assumed Peterson thought himself as “possibly bisexual.”
Fomby said that Peterson will “use anything to try to defend himself.”
“This is somebody that went to EDI to try to report his former gay friend about something of a homosexual nature,” Fomby said.
A UB spokesperson declined to comment on the case, citing federal privacy laws, but told The Spectrum that “the university has a robust on-campus judiciary process” to handle complaints, including incidents of alleged harassment.
Peterson denied prior allegations of misconduct
Fomby isn’t the only UB student to have accused Peterson of misconduct. Twenty-three people brought complaints about Peterson to Aisha Adam, the outgoing SA president, this year. Before coming to UB, Peterson was suspended from student government at Nassau Community College after the school received more than 40 complaints alleging harassment and discrimination. Peterson is now suing the college.
A junior law and political science major — one of the 23 people and who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation — told The Spectrum that in the fall semester, Peterson had followed him back to his dorm in at the Ellicott Complex, badgered him into going to an Indian restaurant and wouldn’t leave the student’s car despite repeated asks until 2:30 in the morning.
Peterson denied the complaint.
Joe Chen, a sophomore majoring in sociology and political science, told The Spectrum that Peterson was hostile toward him when campaigning in Student Union during election week.
Chen said that Peterson asked if he was gay because he “looked like a gay f–g, a gay twink,” and then complimented his thighs, saying, “Imagine if you were gang raped, how would that scenario be like?”
Peterson then threatened Chen to not tell anyone or Chen would be “over with,” Chen told The Spectrum.
Chen, who is a sexual assault survivor, didn’t leave his dorm for two weeks because of the incident, and hadn’t done well on his midterms.
“I don’t know what he could do to me. But if anything happened, or to happen to me, he’s the one who’s responsible,” Chen said. “That was just so bad. I’d never been humiliated like that in a public place by somebody, a student leader.”
Chen says he considered filing a no-contact order against Peterson for harassment, but ultimately decided not to.
Peterson denied the claims, saying Chen’s statements were out of “a mafia movie.”
“The very facially deficient claims against me made by people is a sign that there’s a lot of targeting going on, and it’s part of the reason why I would have filed a no-contact order against someone,” Peterson said. “I’m in a situation where I’m in fear for my safety because there are so many people for whatever reason decided, ‘I hate presidential candidates or formers or whatever else it may be.’”
A first for the Student Association
Two SA members have never had a mutual no-contact order before, Adam told The Spectrum. No contact orders prevent students from contact — in-person, electronically or through third parties — making it difficult or impossible for Peterson and Fomby to serve together on the 24-member SA Senate.
Adam says that she’s in contact with SA’s legal counsel to develop plans for if Fomby and Peterson are both in the Senate next year.
“It’s deeply unfortunate. The Senate should be a safe space for e-board and senators alike,” Adam said. “It’s disappointing to see the way that this played out, but I want to see everybody safe and protected.”
Fomby would be a Senate member as treasurer, where Peterson would have to re-run in the fall semester to secure a seat. Peterson told The Spectrum that he was “50-50” on a second run, saying that if the Senate passed a resolution he supported by the end of the spring semester such as the expansion of the Senate or an increase in the number of SA elected offices, he would view it “more positively.”
Fomby stopped attending meetings at clubs that he and Peterson share — the Model United Nations and Model Congress clubs — and remained in the SA offices on the third floor of Student Union during an April 22 Senate meeting because of the no-contact order.
Fomby told The Spectrum that SA’s legal counsel advised him to not attend, believing that Peterson was “trying to get a reaction” over the no-contact order.
“I’m not going to put myself in a situation where Grant’s going to try to call the police,” Fomby said.
Peterson, for his part, says the no-contact order would not prevent him and Fomby from serving on the Senate or participating in the same clubs.
“There’s not a radius where he can’t be around me,” Peterson said.
Fomby said he wasn’t comfortable serving alongside Peterson if Peterson were to be re-elected.
“I will not feel comfortable walking to that Senate room every other Wednesday as the chief financial officer of this organization and having to work with him, especially with a no-contact order that he issued against me,” Fomby said. “Either he gets removed or genuinely a resignation of myself might have to be what needs to be done.”
Mylien Lai is the senior news editor and can be reached at mylien.lai@ubspectrum.com
Mylien Lai is the senior news editor at The Spectrum. Outside of getting lost in Buffalo, she enjoys practicing the piano and being a bean plant mom. She can be found at @my_my_my_myliennnn on Instagram.
Photo: Courtesy of UB Women's Rugby
