By Jaime Hoerbelt

The Student Government Association voted Tuesday not to re-instate former Senator Ian Daly due to poor attendance. Daly, a candidate for vice president in the last SGA election, had an unexcused absence from a senate meeting and missed required office hours.

SGA senators are required to attend all senate meetings. If senators are going to be absent, they must contact their committee chair 24 hours prior to the meeting. All senators are also required to serve one hour per week in the SGA office.

According to the SGA constitution, “Any senator who accumulates two absences in any given semester will be considered to have resigned his/her seat by resignation and will be subject to reinstatement.” The Ethics and Conduct chairwoman, sophomore business major Ashley Kowal, is responsible for enforcing this rule. “Basically, I want to make sure that the senators fulfill their responsibilities. And it’s not up to me to remove any senator, it’s up to the senate,” Kowal said. “But it is my job to make sure it is fair. One person can’t be allowed to lapse in any area while other senators are keeping up with it.”

Daly had the opportunity to address the senate, during which time he apologized for missing the meeting and office hours, but he did not offer a detailed explanation.

“I was basically surprised, and kind of hurt,” Daly said, adding that senators who have a problem with his performance can come talk to him.

Senator Akeem Mellis, chairman of the Academic Affairs committee, spoke in favor of Daly, telling the senate he is a hard worker who has attended all of the committee meetings other than the one in question.

A motion to reinstate Daly failed by a single vote. A two-thirds majority is needed to reinstate a senator.

Many senators commented on the issue during the meeting. Julia Hisayi, the SGA comptroller, addressed the senate. “We should be looking at what they’ve done, not how many meetings they’ve missed,” she said. “It makes us look really bad if we don’t let people back in because they didn’t attend a few meetings.”

Mellis agreed. “I’m glad to see that there are other senators who are as disgusted as I am with what happened tonight. We should give people a second chance,” he said. “Ian Daly was someone who did work hard for the SGA. He forgot to let the appropriate person know that he was going to be missing a meeting and he forgot to go to his office hours. We’ve had senators do much worse and be reinstated. It was an injustice to the senate.

“You should all be ashamed of your conduct,” he added.

Kate Legnetti, the SGA vice president, said that personal sympathies matter, but rules are rules. “I think Ian was an awesome senator. And it is a really hard job, the Ethics and Conduct chair. I was the Ethics and Conducts chair last year so I know how hard it is to tell someone they have to report for reinstatement.

“But you have to stick to the rules. You can’t excuse one person or it isn’t fair He can re-delegate and I’m sure everyone would love to have him back,” she said.

Addressing the lack of attendance, Daly said, “It shouldn’t be my downfall.”

Student Government Association Vice President Kate Legnetti addresses the senate during the Tuesday meeting. (Jackie Perito)