SGA senior class senator faces impeachment

Senior Class Senator Parth Patel faces impeachment at the next meeting of the Student Government Association (SGA) on Feb. 25. Junior Mahzi Malcolm, a former senator, filed a complaint through the SGA Judiciary Board about the nature of Patel’s appointment process.

“Through the complaint, it was found out that Parth is in the MA/BA five-year master’s  program,” Janice Bonsu, SGA executive president, said. “That’s the sticky position right now, where he’s a graduate student.”

Vice President Kyra Toomre explained SGA’s formal reasoning for the impeachment.

“The entire senior class will be writing a response,” Toomre said. “We [the Executive Board] have agreed that the SGA constitution says that we govern undergraduate students.”

Toomre then delivered the Executive Board’s position.

“We came to the conclusion that we have to technically impeach you, Parth,” Toomre said. “There is a reason why there is an undergraduate SGA and a graduate SGA. We’re trying to follow the rules that are written in the constitution.”

The precedent set for senatorial impeachment is lenient; however, Toomre chose to adhere more strictly to SGA’s constitution.

“There have been other times when we, as a council, voted to suspend the rules and let someone stay on, but as the Vice President, I have to enforce what is in the constitution. That is why we are officially saying that there will be an impeachment procedure,” Toomre said.

Destiny Bailey, senior class president, commented on the precedent set by Zoë Cohen’s departure from the senior class senate in 2014 due to her early graduation.

“I’m not really for suspending the rule very often, but... during the fall semester, she would be extremely honest that she was scheduled to graduate December of 2013,” Bailey said. “No impeachment process took place. We went straight to the senate making the decision whether we wanted to keep her. I think that these two are very similar. I don’t think it’s necessary for impeachment to happen.”

Bailey further elaborated on Patel’s situation.

“It is a very blurry line between him being an undergraduate and a graduate student. He will receive both degrees in May with us,” Bailey said. “He is still the class of 2015. He should be awarded all amenities and activities that an undergraduate can have.”

There was a closed portion of the meeting that excluded all guests, including The News-Letter, for about 30 minutes.

“This closed meeting is just to discuss the topic. It’s not an impeachment process,” Bonsu said. “[We] need a week’s notice from meeting [for an impeachment].”

Patel defended his position as senator.

“I can say that every decision that I make on the SGA is definitely from the perspective of a graduating senior and in no way from the perspective of a master’s year,” Patel said. “Just because I am taking 600-level courses doesn’t mean that my view toward certain issues has changed all of a sudden. I still make decisions based on what I think my constituents, the members of the senior class, would like me to think.”

Malcolm asked the SGA to give the issue more thought.

“Involve yourselves, [SGA members]. I don’t think that [this issue] should be solely left to the class council,” Malcolm said. “Keep in mind, sometimes these things seem to be more blurry than they are, but take a look at the facts.”

Malcolm claims that the Registrar’s office emailed him verifying that Patel is recorded as a graduate student. Patel admits the violation of the constitution.

“In Mahzi [Malcolm]’s petition, he did email the Registrar’s office, and they said that I was a graduate student. On my.jh.edu, it states that I am a graduate student. I knew that I was going to start my master’s course work during my senior year,” Patel said. “So I reached out to Dr. Frechette, [director of masters studies,] and also talked to Robert Turning, director of student activities. I wanted to double check, and I did.”

Patel emphasizes that he is an undergraduate student in some sense.

“This semester I did start taking 600-level courses, but I’m still paying undergraduate tuition. I’m not eligible for Dean’s Master’s Fellowship,” Patel said.

Patel is unsatisfied with the ruling.

“Kyra [Toomre] brought up the preamble, which is one place where it does specify ‘undergraduate student,’ but in the membership section of the constitution, it doesn’t necessarily specify,” Patel said.

The SGA constitution preamble does define SGA’s governmental population as undergraduate.

“We, the Undergraduates of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and the Whiting School of Engineering, in order to strengthen student unity, represent student interests, and provide a forum for the exchange of ideas, hereby establish this Constitution,” the preamble states.

Patel claims that the constitution is not clear.

“I still consider myself a senior,” Patel said. “Furthermore, in the constitution the only place where it talks about the membership is Article II, Section 3. I have to have a GPA of 2.5 and be a full-time Homewood student.”

The SGA’s constitution does stipulate a GPA and student status requirement.

“A student may run for or be appointed to an office, provided that he maintains a 2.5 overall GPA and is a full time student at the Homewood campus throughout his term of office,” the constitution states.

After the SGA meeting on Tuesday, Toomre updated The News-Letter with a different position from the one she assumed in the meeting.

“There is a resolution being drawn up this week that I believe will say that we as a Student Government qualify Parth as an undergraduate, which it says we are allowed to do in the bill of rights, and as such he is allowed to stay on as a senator. If that is passed, the impeachment would not go forward,” Toomre wrote in an email to The News-Letter. 

Toomre also commented on the confidentiality of the impeachment process.

“Any impeachment procedures are held in closed meetings as per our guiding documents’ instructions. It is the only vote that is taken by secret ballot,” Toomre wrote.

Toomre gave The News-Letter an update on legislative improvements the SGA is taking.

“Two weeks ago we officially created an Ad-hoc committee to examine the constitution and our other guiding documents because there are many things that are not totally clear or contradict one another,” Toomre wrote. “In my opinion this situation falls under that category. Hopefully, the work that comes out of that committee will clear up ambiguities and lead to more clearly defined rules and roles in the future. These changes would need to be ratified by the entire student body; we are working on this new draft this semester.”

Bonsu commented on the legislative initiative.

“We’re at a realization where we want to restructure our constitution, our bylaws,” Bonsu said. “We want to make sure that we are holding ourselves to the highest standard, because we want to be legitimate in the eyes of the students.”

Bonsu wants the student body to participate more actively in the decision process regarding Parth’s impeachment.

“Students only come to us when things are blowing up or when they think we call snow days,” Bonsu said. “If we are not acting, it’s because you are not telling us to act. We really need your [the student body’s] guidance, and we appreciate people who come to meetings.”