Friend exposes student gov. "scandal", gets threatened. His play?

[sushijerk]

Is student government considered a big deal in many colleges? I always thought it was just a bunch of BS that anal overachievers spend time on so they can boost thier transcripts and feel self-important, but I digress.

Basically student government positions are supposed to be decided by open election, and those elected will have a say in the direction of the curriculum and given university funds to plan events as they see fit. It is also supposed to be a prestigious position that shows drive/leadership/whatever.

My friend finds out that the group overseeing his major has never held elections, basically giving positions away to whoever they are friends with. The essays that candidates are required to submit is generally along the lines of "lol gimmie this f*cking position yo!". He reports this to the Engineering Governing Counsel, of which he is a member. Now here is where it gets interesting.

Shortly after he sends out an email complaining about this, he finds that his university email account is shutdown and that the records of him reporting the incident are deleted. The assistant Dean for his major then calls him to the office, locks the door, and asks him questions along the lines of "do you want to make our major look bad?", "why don't you start thinking about your future here?" and "do you know what I can do to you?" Shortly afterwards he is told that he was pressured out of the Engineering Governing Counsel and resigns.

He feels the situation is ridiculous, but is afraid to press the issue with his university because he doesn't know how far up the corruption goes and fears recording tampering or expulsion.

Has anyone involved with student government here experienced something like this? Should my friend just drop the issue (it's not really an issue of the election anymore as wtf is going with the university) or should he press it with other authorities?

Cliff notes: friend finds out that student government elections are a sham, emails student government authorities. Then finds his university email account tampered with and Dean of his major ambigiously threatens him with expulsion of he continues to bring the issue to light.