SGA Decision Upheld

After hearing an appeal from the current Student Government Associate (SGA) president during the closed portion of Monday night’s Senate meeting, the senators voted to uphold the executive board’s decision to disqualify him.

SGA President Phillip Castro’s campaign came into question after he distributed fliers promoting his re-election a day after such activities should have ceased, according to current election guidelines. At a March 27 meeting, the executive board unanimously voted to disqualify Castro based on several complaints about his late campaigning.

After Monday’s meeting, the SGA executive board released the following statement: “After a statement of the facts and a statement by the appealing candidate, the University Student Senate voted last night to uphold the decision of the SGA Executive Board in disqualifying this candidate from the SGA Presidential Election. With that decision from the Senate, candidate Elizabeth Palmer has been declared the SGA President for the 2009-10 academic year.”

Castro read his statement of appeal during a closed session of SGA Senate. During closed sessions, the public attendees are asked to leave the room, including any Whit reporters or photographers.

Junior class vice president Noel Pendergrass, who had been sitting in the public session section of the SGA senate meeting, said she was upset about being excluded from the closed session.

“I guess they’re starting to really enforce the rules,” Pendergrass said. “I’m not officially allowed to vote, but normally they just let me in during closed Senate hearings.”

During his office hours on Wednesday, Castro said he has no qualms about the decision to uphold his disqualification.

“I respect the decision made Monday night,” Castro said. “It’s something I’m personally OK with. I made sure I went through the processes to try and appeal it and I respect their decision.”

SGA President-elect Elizabeth Palmer expressed her appreciation for the professional manner in which the incident has been handled, and talked about her plans for the next academic years and the amount of attention the breached guidelines attracted.

“In the way the SGA executive board has responded, they have been respectful, professional and responsible.” Palmer said. “This is completely unprecedented.

“I think this decision was a really difficult one. I really want to continue to be a respected advocate for students.”

Palmer added that she wants to build a strong relationship with administration and faculty, in order to ensure she remains an effective leader. She also said that some SGA guidelines and policies need to undergo changes.

“I think a lot of our policies and procedures are a little outdated. With that being said, our policies now are our policies and they will continue to stand until they are officially changed,” Palmer said.

Castro will remain president for the remainder of the academic year and Palmer will assume the office at the beginning of the fall 2010 semester.

SGA Senate Chair William Moen, Jr. said that he felt the executive board dealt with the situation well.

“It was a difficult decision for the senate to deal with,” Moen said. “I’m proud to say, regardless of the decision we made, that we handled the situation well.”