Unity Commission Restored With Senate Oversight

The GUSA Senate reauthorized the Student Commission for Unity late Wednesday night when a compromise was brokered between the senate and Student Association President Pat Dowd (SFS ’09), thus ending two weeks of controversy.

On Wednesday night, Senate Speaker Reggie Greer (COL ’09) and Vice Speaker Brian Wood (COL ’09) introduced a bill reauthorizing the SCU with former senator Brian Kesten (COL ’10), SCU’s chair, keeping that role until the end of the calendar year, at which point the SCU would be led by two co-chairs. Before it as passed, the bill was amended to require that one of the co-chairs be a senator. While members of the senate and the executive branches say they are pleased with the final bill, SCU’s leadership is not.

The dispute began two weeks ago when Dowd expressed concerns about Kesten, SCU’s founder, continuing to chair the commission after losing his senate re-election bid this fall. The senate had voted on Oct. 29 to reauthorize the commission with Kesten as chair, but Dowd vetoed the bill later that week.

Senate and executive leadership met extensively over the weekend, developing a plan to end the two-week stalemate. At the end of what Dowd called a “four or five-hour meeting,” the parties emerged with a compromise: a bill permitting Kesten to remain sole chair of the commission until it completes its research in January, at which point a co-chair will be appointed. The proposal did not, however, specify that the co-chair must be a senator, a provision Dowd had insisted upon when he vetoed the original bill last week.

Although two days before, Dowd had said that he would not reauthorize the SCU with a non-senator as chair, by Wednesday, he changed his tone, telling the senate that no matter what the vote, he would not use his veto power.

“I’m not here to tell you what to do,” Dowd said. “My perspective has changed in the last week.”

In what was undoubtedly the best attended senate meeting in recent history, more than 20 Kesten supporters crowded into the small Healy classroom to speak on his behalf.

While Kesten had vocally opposed the move earlier in the week, he asked the senate on Wednesday to vote in favor of the bill, which allowed for a co-chair, but did not specify that the co-chair be a senator.

“If we continue to move forward, we’re going to have to divide the labor much more efficiently, and that’s why we agree with the co-chair arrangement,” Kesten said.

After Greer requested that all non-senators leave the meeting (while allowing reporters to remain), Senator Tim Swenson (COL ’10) introduced an amendment to the bill, requiring that the co-chair be a senator.

Greer, who co-authored the bill, described the original omission as a “typographical oversight,” but Kesten said he had never agreed to the version of the bill that passed the senate.

“The compromise I supported was the bill that was presented with the so-called typo — with a dual-chair system that didn’t specify a senator,” Kesten said.

Greer said he was aware that Kesten had reservations about the amendment.

“That was what the executive intended, but that’s maybe not what Brian wanted,” he said. “But I spoke to him afterwards and I guaranteed to him that we will work through this.”

“We believe SCU members should be able to choose co-chairs from within based on merit,” Kesten said. “This bill ensures that the people who deserve the most credit aren’t going to be able to achieve it.”

Greer said that he aims to help Kesten maintain the current leadership of the SCU.

“If [Kesten is] not comfortable with any of the senators that may be working with the SCU, I will appoint myself as an honorary co-chair,” he said. “What I don’t want to do is just have any senator chairing a commission.”

Senator Johnny Solis (SFS ’11) said he was concerned that because the amendment was added after Kesten encouraged the senators to vote in favor of the proposal, they may have mistakenly believed he supported the amendment.

“I think the senators were completely confused because afterwards they all said they thought this was the best solution for everyone,” he said.

Dowd said he hopes this legislation will help to affirm the mission of the SCU, and that the co-chair model will serve to legitimize the organization in the long run.

“There needs to be an elected voice at the helm of this organization,” he said. “It’s an issue of accountability.” “I just think that in principle, this is a win-win in the long term interest of both SCU and GUSA,” Dowd said.

Kesten founded the commission last October after controversy surrounded what was considered as THE HOYA’s minimal coverage of a rally for the Jena Six and two alleged hate crimes against Georgetown students. The SCU aimed to work with several groups on campus to conduct a survey of issues of diversity on campus and ultimately produce a report of its findings.

After a unanimous vote, Kesten was reappointed as chair of the commission. He said SCU tentatively plans to publish a report of its findings during the week of Jan. 19, which celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day.