Senator Says Resignation Was Forced

Student Union Senate resignations happen most years, but senators usually cite “personal reasons” or “unhappiness with the student government” when leaving the student government. Rarely have they said they were forced out by the administration.

However, when Ethan Clay, a College of Arts and Sciences sophomore, stepped down from his Senate seat during a Feb. 25 Senate meeting, he later said he felt he was forced to resign. According to Clay, Student Activities Office Director Carolyn Norris told him he must resign his role as either a Union senator or as president of BU Free, citing a conflict of interest. Norris said she did not force Clay to resign.

“I was told the week of Feb. 11, on either Monday or Tuesday, that I had to choose between the Senate and BU Free,” Clay said.

Norris said she thought Clay’s dual-officer role would cause a conflict of interest, as he should be representing his constituents instead of the organization of which he is president.

“With the two positions in Ethan’s case, there was a conflict of interest in being a senator,” Norris said. “Basically, I explained that this was the issue and it was his decision to make what he wanted to do.”

In his resignation speech, Clay said his main reason for resigning from the Union without a fight was so he would not hinder the progress of BU Free, a student group working with the Union to change Boston University’s Guest Policy.

“I was told by Carolyn Norris that I must choose between the Senate and my officer position in BU Free,” Clay said, during his resignation speech. “While I disagree with the SAO reasoning that a senator cannot effectively represent their constituency while holding office in another student group, any protest of this decision will slow the recognition of BU Free.”

Clay, formerly a Myles Standish Hall senator, joined the Union at a Nov. 5, 2001, meeting.

According to Clay, he sent Norris an email on Feb. 19 informing her that he planned to resign from the Senate so he could continue as the president of BU Free.

“If I were to try to stay on Senate and keep my officer position, BU Free would not have been able to form,” Clay said.

On Feb. 21, Clay said he received an email from Norris, recommending he remain a senator and instead give up the presidency of BU Free.

“I’d like for my recommendation that you remain on Senate for the rest of this year, forgoing an officer position in BU Free, to be on the record,” Norris wrote, according to Clay.

Norris said she recommended Clay choose the Senate since he had already made a commitment to them and had been working with the group since November.

“My opinion or suggestion was that he carry out and honor his Senate commitment for the rest of the year,” Norris said. “We’re so close to the end of the school year and he was doing such good work for the Senate.”

Norris said she thought Clay could obtain the presidency of BU Free next semester.

“If [Clay] was interested in still pursuing the presidency of BU Free in the fall, he could step up then,” Norris said.

Clay said he consulted other Union members about how he could talk to Norris but hit a wall when he was told she wouldn’t talk about the possibility of the dual-officer role anymore.

“She gave me the ultimatum, and I thought about it for a few days and Kirsten Lundeen sent me an email on Feb. 23,” Clay said. “I guess she had spoken with Carolyn that week and Zach [Coseglia] had spoken with her too. [Lundeen] basically said [Norris] would not renegotiate at this time.”

Union President Zachary Coseglia said the decision didn’t sit right with him.

“It really doesn’t make sense to me,” Coseglia said. “I really don’t know why he isn’t allowed to do both. After speaking to Carolyn one-on-one, I didn’t understand her rationale.”

Norris said if a case of a dual-officer role comes up, she would address it with the student involved and help him or her to find a solution.

“There are some situations that I’m aware of and there are some situations that predate me, and clearly when they came up there must have been some communication at the time,” Norris said. “If I’m aware of something I’m going to address it.”

However, Clay was forced to choose between the Senate and BU Free because Norris thought it was a conflict of interest, and, in the end, he said he didn’t have too much trouble deciding his course of action.

“Honestly, it wasn’t a difficult decision since my initial purpose in getting involved in Senate was to get more connected with the leadership on campus and get BU Free connected,” Clay said. “My true allegiance is to BU Free, but it was a tough decision for me to make.”

One day after Clay’s Senate resignation, he received a letter from SAO stating that BU Free had become an official club.

Clay said while he did resign from the Senate, he still disagreed with Norris’ decision regarding the matter.

“The SAO decision is suggesting I could not fairly represent my constituency, and that’s ridiculous,” Clay said. “Even if something did come up where there was a vote in Senate, I could always abstain.”

Tribunal members Lisa Franchini and John Underwood said they were unsure why Clay was forced to resign from the Senate in order to have BU Free organized by SAO.

“It’s definitely not anything in our constitution,” Franchini said.

“It’s an SAO policy, and as our adviser, [Norris] does have the authority to make those calls because we’re a student organization,” Underwood said. “Personally, I think there’s always room to look at it from different sides, and I don’t have all the facts in front of me.”

Norris said she would evaluate each student who comes to her with a dual-officer request on a case-by-case basis.

“There’s really a whole lot of different pieces that come into play, and if it’s a situation where someone has petitioned and it’s not going to go through, I always communicate to the student and tell them why,” Norris said. “It’s not a rubber stamp ‘no’ or something like that.”

SAO forced resignations earlier this semester, most notably in the case of Carl Woog, the current Union VP of Financial Affairs. Woog was the treasurer of the College Democrats and, after essentially becoming the treasurer of the Student Union, was asked to step down.

“Carl had to give up a position in the College Democrats and he was the treasurer there. That is different,” Clay said. “There’s never a case that’s completely similar to this, where a senator could not have another officer position.”

Woog said he thought the rule needed more clarification.

“I think the rule, as it stands, needs more explanation, and there are certain values to apply to the rule for the student body,” Woog said.

Coseglia wondered why Norris didn’t make a point of asking Woog to resign from the Senate when he was involved with the College Democrats. Woog had previously been the treasurer of the College Democrats and a Union senator at the same time.

“Carl was a senator and he was treasurer [of the College Democrats],” Coseglia said. “That wasn’t a conflict of interest and Ethan’s [situation] is?”

Woog said he was never asked about his dual involvement with the Senate and the College Democrats.

“There was not even a question that I would be misrepresenting or improperly representing a student group,” Woog said.

Tiffany Caufield, a School of Education sophomore and treasurer of the BU Choral Society, remains a Union senator despite a similar situation. Caufield, who is also the chair of the Academic Affairs committee, said she has never been asked to step down from the Choral Society office or Senate seat.

“I feel it’s a silly rule because I would be penalized for being involved,” Caufield said. “If I can keep my [grade point average] up and be involved, I don’t see why it’s a problem.”

Norris said while situations will always arise and be solved, there would always be issues with the dual-officer position.

“There are some other scenarios in which something like that may happen too,” Norris said. “I think [a dual-officer possibility] depends how it is handled and it depends how the student presents it. Ideally and optimally, [there will be no problems], but will things like that come up? Yeah.”