A proposed constitutional revision that Student Union senators debated and revised for three weeks passed at 2:35 a.m. during the Union’s weekly Senate meeting.
Senators passed the revised document 21 to eight, with one abstention.
The issue was not even addressed until after 11 p.m., and the meeting ran so late that Buildings and Grounds called the BU Police Department, who arrived to tell the Senate to wrap up the meeting.
‘We’re not coming back if we come back there will be a world of trouble,’ one of the officers said.
Union president Ethan Clay, who had been working on the revised constitution for months, said he was ecstatic at the results.
‘I am both appreciative for Senate’s dedication and extremely pleased with the approval of the constitution,’ Clay said after the meeting. ‘I was surprised there had been a number of concerns that I had not been able to address outside of Senate because of private meetings that were occurring.’
From here, the approved constitution will be sent to the college governments, where two-thirds of them must approve the document by May 1. Clay said he would send them the approved constitution today.
‘I will be sending an e-mail tonight to confirm Senate’s approval,’ he said. ‘This is something that they have been briefed on before and pledged a response not positive or negative.’
Presidential appointments and Senate Chair and Vice-chair elections were the main issues, besides the constitution, that bogged down last night’s meeting.
Fajardo said he would control Senate discussion more effectively and proposed ending the meeting at 2 a.m. after the meeting had already passed midnight. But senators became upset with the thought of limiting discussion.
‘Really, you guys just control the meeting,’ Fajardo said. ‘I do what I think is best.’
Clay had presented the proposed constitution for two hours before Sen. James Stanco (South Campus) proposed limiting discussion. Stanco moved to end discussion at 1:30 a.m. Sen. Ernie Clarke (School of Hospitality Management) made a motion to also call for a vote at 1:30 a.m. Sen. Meredith Classen (School of Education), however, disagreed with limiting discussion.
‘If we’re not done talking about the constitution at 1:30 we shouldn’t [stop],’ Classen said. ‘I don’t want to vote on something that isn’t fully discussed if we are finished at 1:30, great.’
Mike Perriera, the current chair of the Union Service Council and next year’s Programming Council chairman, also approached the floor, where he delivered a statement condemning a provision of the constitution taking voting privileges away from Union special bodies, of which both SUSC and SUPC are both. However, he did not propose any changes.
Clay said he did not want the special bodies to have a vote on the cabinet because their leaders are not elected by the student body.
Senators also raised several other concerns about executive body powers.
Clay said he would listen to senators’ concerns, but would not always implement their recommendations.
‘I think there has been a disagreement between listening and agreeing,’ Clay said. ‘I will listen but I will not always agree.’
Sen. Lauren Rodwell (Student Residence at 10 Buick St.) raised concerns several times during the night about the deletion of vice president of Multicultural Affairs in the revised document. But senators did not change the provisions presented in the proposed document.
Clay had said minority groups on campus should handle multicultural affairs on campus, not the Union.
‘We don’t have a disabilities vice president or a gay, straight and bi-sexual vice president,’ Clay said. ‘We don’t want to divide up the student body too much by ethnicity, sexual preference or physical attributes.’
OTHER SENATE WORKINGS
Senators also reelected Joel Fajardo Senate chairman and elected proxy senator Rowan Armour next year’s vice-chairman. Senators also approved three appointments for positions on the Tribunal and the Student Union Elections Commission, and denied one because she was absent from the meeting.
Senators nearly did not elect a vice-chairman for the body next year, after no senators accepted nominations for the position. Armour, a freshman in the University Professors Program who is currently secretary of UNI college government.
Tribunal member Nayan Ranchhod said he was not sure last night whether or not Armour would have to resign from his position in UNI to become vice-chair.
‘I will resign from the executive board of UNI,’ Armour said. ‘If I have to drop one, I’ll drop secretary of UNI but I’ll not drop Union,’
The investigated committee of former Tribunal member James Hoogenhous, who resigned Sunday night, also ‘unanimously decided to dissolve’ because of what they called ‘not sufficient time to properly assess James’ actions,’ according to a statement from the committee.
Sehraj Singh, a former UNI senator, and Connie Thomas, a School of Management sophomore, were also appointed to SUEC last night. Singh and Thomas were appointed vice-chair and director of finance respectively.
Loraine Spolowitz, a College of Communication sophomore who was earlier appointed the body’s advertising chairwoman, was denied the position because she left the meeting early for personal reasons and was unable to field questions.
Current South campus senator and Daily Free Press columnist Jacob Cote was appointed to the Tribunal last night in a close vote. Cote was appointed by one vote and was sworn in along with the ‘True 2’ slate, Fajardo, SUEC appointments and special body chairs.
The Senate also wiped out all of their accounts last night by refunding Fajardo for events he planned, allocating money to buy laser printers for the Union office and putting money toward the Senate retreat held at the beginning of next year.
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