To the Editors of The Campus,
We would like to thank you for your diligent coverage of Senate this year. However, we must express disagreement with the recent StuPub article, which accuses our body of violating the OCU-SGA By-Laws during Tuesday’s impeachment trial by closing chambers for the Vote of Impeachment.
The procedure for an impeachment trial is not stated in the By-Laws but only in the OCU-SGA Constitution, and so we must refer to the Constitution to determine the validity of Senate’s actions during the trial. That normal Senate Procedure as described in the By-Laws was not in effect is demonstrated by the fact that Section 2, Parts C, D, and F of the OCU-SGA By-Laws concerning Speaking Privileges, Call to the Audience, and Time Restraints were not observed.
Although the By-Laws do not refer to impeachment trials, we still wish to make our case against the accusation. As stated in Section 2, Part A, item 2 of the OCU-SGA By-Laws, “All votes shall be publicly cast.” For a vote to be publicly cast, the public must be informed of an elected official’s position on a particular matter of business. Since the votes of the senators were released following the trial, we feel that Senate upheld this requirement.
We always strive to uphold the rules that allow SGA to function effectively. Because of the restrictions on ballot voting, and the large, emotionally invested audience, we felt that in order to ensure safe proceedings, we should close the meeting for the vote. We hope that the student body, and the editorial staff of StuPub will acknowledge that this is a far more complex issue than was made clear in the article, and remember that no student should ever have to feel unsafe at a school function, regardless of whether you agree with them or not.
Sincerely,
Edwards Ayo-Odugbesan, President Pro Tempore
Ciera Terry, Chair of Constituent Outreach
Sadie Kaserman, Chair of Student Services
Anthony England, Chair of Appropriations
Erica Olavarria, Senator-at-Large
Robin Ladd, Senator-at-Large
View a letter to the editors from an alumnus here.
