By Laura Rodell
A proposed amendment to lower the minimum G.P.A required to run for Student Government Association president or vice president from 2.5 to 2.25 was defeated during Tuesday’s SGA meeting.
The proposal was approved by a majority of cabinet members on Friday, which allowed it to be brought to Senate this week. If passed, the measure could have enabled the incumbent president, Peter DiSilvio, to run for re-election.
The vote tally was 12-12, plus five abstentions. To be passed, the amendment required the approval of five-sixths of senators present and voting at the meeting.
Before voting, many students addressed the issue on the senate floor.
Those who supported the proposal said it would extend democracy by offering the student body a wider selection of candidates.
“By having a limited body restrict who can and cannot represent the general student body, it’s placing a certain set of elitist requirements on someone who is supposed to represent the true ideology and will of the larger constituency,” said Josh Lanier, the SGA club affairs chairman.”
Supporters also contended that G.P.A. is not always a reliable barometer of an individual’s fitness to serve in office because it does not reflect alternative strengths.
“I think one of the complications is the fact that, since we’re at a university and constantly confronted with academics, we believe it’s the only part of someone’s character and abilities,” said Kathleen Hunker, the SGA fundraising chairwoman. Leadership and academics sometimes go hand in hand, but very often they’re different.”
Counterpoint came from students who felt that current legislation should be adhered to as written.
“I’m not doubting whether Pete is qualified in other ways for this job, but how committed you are to this job is not written in our constitution. A G.P.A requirement is written into our constitution,” said Ashley Kowal, an SGA senator, adding that she examined the issue “from a rules standpoint.”
Others who opposed the measure contended that the current academic standard is a reasonable requirement for the high-profile position of president or vice president.
“I disagree with holding the president to a lower standard if we’re trying to raise the standard of Hofstra University as a whole, raising the bar as Hofstra would say,” said Lydia Pleiman, an SGA senator.
Several senators abstained from voting in support of or against the proposed amendment.
“I felt that I couldn’t make a judgment because I didn’t know how the entire constituency of the student body felt, and I didn’t want to pass judgment on this particular issue with a divided student body,” said Jared Berry, an SGA senator. “Half support [DiSilvio] because he’s great as president now and half don’t see lowering the G.P.A requirement as a good thing for our future.”
The issue of the G.P.A. will be put to the student body on a referendum, the results of which are non-binding and essentially serve as a poll of student opinion.
Although DiSilvio remains ineligible to run, the election will proceed as scheduled. On Wednesday, campaigning began and the two tickets, Brent Weitzberg and Kate Legnetti and Shaun Slight and Ian Daly, held their first debate.
“We both sat down and took a really hard look at our schedules and our lives and it’s something we wanted to do,” said Legnetti, the SGA ethics and conduct chairwoman, adding that the two sets of candidates are “ready to go.”
An amendment proposing to lower the minimum G.P.A. required to run for SGA president did not pass at Tuesday’s senate meeting.