By Maggie Urban-WaalaStaff Writer
In this week’s Student Government senate meeting, senators continuously lost their sense of decorum when discussing elections.
The meeting centered on the potential election of three delegates. The discussion dissolved into a critique of candidates’ personal lives, and had to be brought back on track before voting could take place.
While three delegates went out for elections, only one was voted into the organization.
The process that took place in order to decide on the elections was anything but the usual routine.
The first delegate was voted into the organization with minimal controversy and took his seat at the table with the other senators.
After the second delegate, Dion Pierre, gave his speech regarding why he considered himself a good candidate and stepped out of the room, SGA began their discussion on why they did or did not believe he should represent the student body.
The conversation steered away from his potential as a senator and more toward qualities certain senators believed he lacked, such as professional gravity and dedication in regards to SGA as a whole.
Vice President Andrea Standrowicz repeatedly called for decorum. Decorum is a vice president’s means of controlling the tone of the conversation.
Senator Victoria Rametta was also quick to remind the members that she believed this was against their protocol, based on precedence, and that they should remain professional and exclude any personal information from their reasons for voting.
This subdued the line of discussion temporarily, although upon Pierre’s return to the room, questions about his personal life were raised yet again.
The final decision of SGA was to not vote Pierre in as a senator.
Pierre was not deterred by this outcome. He later responded to the decision, stating, “The convictions of a true leader come from true adversity.”
Gary Duff, former Ethics and Conduct Chair of SGA before stepping down, was the third delegate.
Duff confidently stated his success in his professional life, as well as in his former position to the organization, as some of the reasons why he should be voted in as a senator.
After stepping out, the conversation that took place about his qualifications as a senator revolved almost entirely around an article that Duff had previously written for The Chronicle about potential ways to fix what he thought was wrong in SGA.
Duff reentered the room to face a sequence of inquiries about the article and his criticism of SGA.
The delegate responded that he supported his article, stating that SGA needs criticism in order to grow.
“Criticism is necessary, especially regarding the current perception of the organization,” Duff said.
Duff faced several more questions regarding this article, but very few regarding his qualifications as a potential senator for SGA.
Ultimately, Duff was not voted into SGA.
Following the meeting, Associate Director for Student Leadership and Activities Robyn Kaplan made sure to remind them that they were elected by the student body as well as their SGA peers, and that they should not underappreciate the privilege.
