Amidst election night buzz, a Student Government Association at-large senator Jack Seitz was impeached.
The impeachment of senator Seitz was the result of a failure to work office hours, and a misunderstanding of exactly what the office hours required of the senator.
At-large senator John Slunecka agreed with other senators that a misunderstanding of the bylaws that each senator must follow could be understood.
“Exactly what is defined as office hours is not clear,” he said. “As a senator, I could understand where that confusion could
come from.”
According to the Internal Review Committee, the work that Senator Seitz was doing with organizations didn’t qualify as office hours, since he was not assigned to some of the specific organizations that he was working with.
Senator Seitz said he didn’t intend to break the bylaw, and that it was unclear what was expected
of him.
“I joined SGA because I feel very passionately about helping the students,” he said. “In terms of violating the bylaws, that was not my intent.”
At-large senator Marcus Ireland said he didn’t think it was reasonable for the senate to punish a fellow senator for working with other organizations.
“I think it’s kind of ridiculous if we were to punish a senator for working with organizations,” he said.
At-large senator Joshua Arens said the focus of the conversation wasn’t whether senator Seitz was helping organizations, but that he wasn’t correctly following the senate’s bylaws.
“We aren’t punishing him because he went out to work with organizations, we are punishing him because he didn’t show up for his office hours,” he said.
As the conversation came to a close, Seitz said he was only trying to do what would benefit the students.
“I believe my actions have done what’s best for the students,” he said.
The senate ultimately voted to require senator Seitz to complete 18 additional office hours. These 18 hours must be completed by Feb. 1. If senator Seitz fails to complete those hours, he will face further impeachment trials. This decision was passed with a two-thirds vote.
At the meeting, a resolution to implement a gender inclusive facilities pilot program was also passed.
This program will start with a few restrooms, but will eventually reach out to restrooms throughout the campus according to dean of students and vice president of student services Kim Grieve.
