Conflict in SGA Over Absences
posted by Ja'Shawn Steward-Johnson | November 29, 2017 | In NewsNov. 15 at 5 p.m. in the Rudolph Jones Student Center, the Student Government Association held a Senate meeting. The meeting consisted of the Senate, the Executive Board, the Student Activity Council program director, advisors, faculty, and class presidents, as well as some of the student body.
Tim Pitchford, Vice President of SGA and President of the Senate, was seemingly impeached during the Wednesday meeting due to excessive absences. According to the secretaries of SGA, Vice President Pitchford had six absences which is past grounds for impeachment.
A few minutes into the meeting, Senator Dustin Young made a motion to go into closed session to vote on whether or not Pitchford would be impeached. A closed session means that only members of SGA are allowed to be in the session. The closed session is to allow for “positive and negative debate,” according to the Constitution. Soon after, the session was opened back to the public for the vote.
Senator Ivy Pope made a motion to vote by secret ballot to discourage intimidation. The motion was denied by President Elliot Jackson citing the bylaws in the constitution that a vote by secret ballot is not allowed. Senator Pope noted that the bylaws contradicted what President Jackson had stated. The bylaws state: “I. All voting shall be by voice except where otherwise stated. II. Upon call for a division of the Senate, the Senate President shall call for a hand vote, roll call, or other voting method otherwise specified and shall announce the number of votes cast for and against the motion.”
However, the motion to vote by roll call was already made, therefore, the vote whether to impeach Pitchford was made through such. It would take a simple majority of Senate vote (only the Senators have voting power) to remove Pitchford from his position. The final tally was 8 votes to impeach Pitchford, 7 votes to keep Pitchford in, and 5 abstentions.
However, per constitution, any SGA member is supposed to be notified by the secretary once they reach two and three absences. “A Senator will have tendered their resignation if they are absent from three Mandatory SGA Events/Meetings without the submission of an Absentee Form or reasonable excuse.” A meeting with the president is supposed to scheduled after the third absence. According to Pitchford, neither of those actions happened.
As for what is going to happen to Vice President Pitchford, no one actually knows. President Elliot Jackson, himself, had thought that the process would be done by a simple vote cast until Dr. Juanette Council, the Advisor of SGA and Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs stepped in to make a recommendation. Dr. Council said to hold off on the impeachment process because it needs to be further discussed internally in the Executive Board, and it would have to go through legal affairs.
The situation around Pitchford is the latest squabble amidst signs of in-fighting and other conflict within SGA. Currently, the Executive Board gets a monthly stipend for 10 months between $250-500 (President Jackson- 12 months). All of which comes from student funds. The Senate and the Executive Board are responsible for making any and all decisions regarding the student body. As representatives of the student body, it is in students’ best interest to make sure they are acting on their behalf diligently and with the benefit of all students as their primary aim.
If Pitchford was not notified, he should have been and the responsibility falls on people within SGA. Last but not least, it is unlikely that Pitchford is the only person to struggle with attendance. If other members failed in regards to their attendance, they, too, should be having to go through the same indictment process at Pitchford, such a decision should not be used liberally and discriminately.
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