Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Council Calls For Referendum On GUSA

Council Calls For Referendum On GUSA

By Heather Burke Hoya Staff Writer

Students will vote Dec. 2 on whether to hold a convention to amend the GUSA constitution, according to a unanimous but controversial decision made last week by the student association’s Consitutional Council. The ruling, made last Thursday, came in response to an Oct. 29 council hearing over an appeal filed by GUSA Representatives Rip Andrews (SFS ’01) and Jasper Ward (COL ’01) and John Butler (COL ’01).

Andrews, Ward, Butler and Constitutional Council ember Kim Harrington (SFS ’01) originally proposed the convention to the GUSA Assembly in September to address structural issues they said they saw in the current constitution and create more student involvement in GUSA. The Assembly defeated the resolution in a 2-8-2 vote.

Soon after the proposal was voted down, Ward and Andrews filed an appeal with the Constitutional Council to overturn the Assembly decision. “The GUSA Assembly neither fully nor appropriately addressed the content of the Resolution . This oversight along with both the magnitude and specifically constitutional concerns addressed by this Resolution require a redress of this issue,” Ward and Andrews wrote in a memo to the council.

“[Changing the Constitution] is such a big thing to do that it should be a student decision instead of the Constitutional Council or the Student Association’s [decision],” Constitutional Council Chair Bradford Caldwell (MSB ’99) said. “If students feel it needs to be changed, let their voices be heard. If not, the same thing.” Caldwell, Harrington and Erin Lyall (SFS ’01), the three members of the Constitutional Council, made the decision.

According to the council’s decision, Ward and Andrews said the GUSA Assembly “acted prematurely in voting down an issue that bears weight far beyond their own organization.” Therefore, the decision states, “due to the magnitude of the proposal and the possible future implications of its passage, we find that a referendum to the entire undergraduate student body would most appropriately address this issue.”

The resolution added that neither the GUSA Assembly nor members of the Constitutional Council can accurately interpret student preferences on this issue.

The referendum will be run in accordance with GUSA regulations. Twenty-five percent of the total undergraduate student population must vote for the referendum to be valid and a majority vote is needed for the referendum to pass. If the majority of at least 25 percent of students votes affirmatively, a convention to change the constitution will be called.

Some members of GUSA believe that the council had no power to make this decision and has usurped the legislative power of the GUSA Assembly. “The Constitutional Council does not have the power to initiate policy,” said GUSA President John Glennon (COL ’99). “They can state that the Assembly or the executive did something unconstitutional but they can’t take action themselves to say that something is unconstitutional.”

According to Glennon, the power of the student association is to interpret student sentiment and act upon it. He said that members of the Assembly felt that the convention proposal was not in the best interests of the student body and acted accordingly, adding that students elect representatives every year to express their views. “I applaud Rip, John and Jasper on their determination but I think the way they are going about it is not within the bounds of the constitution,” Glennon said.

The Constitutional Council wrote that it had the authority to make this decision because the resolution addresses a constitutional issue. In addition, it said that, according to Article III of the GUSA Constitution, the council is the interpretative authority of all GUSA constitutional matters and its decisions are binding.

Caldwell said the council did not call for a convention because it did not feel that such a measure was within its authority; calling for a convention would have been legislating, he said.

Election Commissioner Jackie Shapiro (COL ’99) said that she was not sure if the Constitutional Council had the right to set the date of the referendum because, according to the GUSA bylaws, the Election Commission sets the dates for elections and referendums with final approval from the Assembly.

Shapiro said it also needs to be addressed whether or not the Election Commission can follow a referendum order from the council. “These issues need to be worked out before anything can be done,” she said.

Caldwell said the referendum date issue will be discussed at tonight’s GUSA meeting.

Supporters of the constitutional convention proposal were pleased with the council’s decision. “It is fantastic that they respect the students enough to let them decide if this is an issue that they feel is important to the school,” Butler said.

Ward said he was pleased with the decision and looks forward to what students think about the convention proposal. Ward is a staff writer for The Hoya.

According to Ward, he and Andrews hope to achieve more cohesive student leadership. He said that student groups could be more effective. Ward added that he wants student input on the best way to achieve this goal through the constitutional convention, which would also allow more students to get involved in student leadership.

“This thing [the constitutional convention] is so monumental, so important to our school,” Butler said.

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