The Student Senate voted nine for and 16 against with zero abstentions to impeach SGA Student Body President Gallop Franklin Monday night.
Senate President Asia McFarland, a 21-year-old MBA student from Raleigh, N.C., said, “The motion against President Franklin was on the grounds of misfeasance and nonfeasance of duties because he has not appointed a chief justice in a timely fashion.”
McFarland also said that the impeachment decision does not immediately remove Franklin from office but is only the first step in the official removal process. To impeach an SGA officer only a one-third vote in favor is needed to pass.
According to the SGA Constitution Title 10 Chapter 901.1 “Any elected or appointed officer of the student government may be removed from office by majority vote of students participating in referendum of the Student Government official’s constituency.”
Junior Senator Sammy Lamy, 20, an accounting student from Miami, said he does not feel the complaints were strong enough to elicit the impeachment decision, which sprung from a motion made by Graduate Senator Rondrea Mathis.
“I voted against [Franklin’s impeachment] because I don’t think there is a sufficient amount of evidence to remove him,” Lamy said. “He wasn’t there to defend himself.”
While he admits that Franklin’s failure to appoint a chief justice has affected some students, Lamy believes that more could have been done on the part of Student Government to rectify the situation.
Lamy said, “I feel like a lot of steps were skipped, we could’ve worked together more, we could’ve met with Gallop to find a solution.”