The table held a debate over the constitutionality and efficiency of Executive Directive #10, passed SB#56 to clarify and codify appointment process of ASUCD elected officials
By MADISON PETERS — campus@theaggie.org
The ASUCD Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill (SB) #56 on Thursday, Feb. 27 to to overturn Executive Directive #10. The executive directive addressed the appointment of Chely Saens as the new External Affairs vice president (EAVP), who was set to take the role after former EAVP Zeph Schnelbach left the office vacant and EAVP Head of Staff Janani Sundaram passed on the position. SB#56 was later vetoed by ASUCD President Gaius Ilupeju on Feb. 28.
Saens, who currently serves as an ASUCD legislative director, assumed the role of acting EAVP on Feb. 18, one day after Schnelbach’s resignation. As the office was then permanently vacant, Article III, Section (5)(iv) of the ASUCD Constitution, which states that “the ASUCD President shall appoint a replacement for the EAVP should a permanent vacancy occur in the office prior to the end of the office holder’s term,” according to the executive directive, was enacted.
The directive introduces a new appointment process, specifically for the EAVP position, that includes candidates undergoing an interview during a special session, followed by two rounds of voting by the Senate table in a closed session and the appointment of the official by Ilupeju after Senate discussion.
Ilupeju clarified his intentions in the beginning of the directive.
“The Executive Office wishes for the hiring process for a new EAVP to be as transparent as possible,” the executive directive reads. “I also want the Senate and the public to be thoroughly involved in the candidate selection so that the interests of the student body are best represented in this process.”
SB#56 called for clarity surrounding the directive and raised issues regarding the “redundancy” of how it outlined the appointment process, as well as the constitutionality of the current appointment of the EAVP. It amended the executive directive on the grounds of a discrepancy between the directive and the ASUCD Constitution, given that in the latter “ASUCD Units are lumped under ASUCD offices, under which all bodies follow the same appointment structure,” according to SB#56.
Thus, an alteration to the hiring process of the EAVP would differ from the ASUCD Constitution. The goal of the bill is to “reflect this discrepancy and avoid any conflicts with the ASUCD Constitution in the future,” according to SB#56.
Senate Pro Tempore Dhilena Wickramasinghe read a letter authored by her and Internal Affairs Commission (IAC) Chair Amanda Clark, among other commision chairs, detailing their criticism with Executive Directive #10. Wickramasinghe said that the letter was never sent out, since they thought it would be more productive to have a conversation in person.
Amongst their issues with the executive directive was that it is “unconstitutional and overcomplicates the appointment process and goes beyond the President’s powers.” Additionally, concerns about not being able to properly compensate Acting EAVP Saens for the amount of labor she would be putting into the appointment process, on top of their other duties, were addressed.
Wickramasinghe brought up Ilupeju’s communication regarding the directive and the lack of Senate involvement in the hiring process.
“President Ilupeju did not communicate to the Senate table or Acting EAVP Saens [about the new appointment process],” Wickramasinghe said. “When I privately inquired about the EAVP hiring process, he didn’t give any mention that he wanted the Senate table to be involved in this at all.”
Wickramasinghe then called for a 10-minute unmoderated caucus at the end of the meeting to discuss the table’s opinions on overturning Executive Directive #10.
Senator Ezra Rubin brought up legal concerns regarding the overreach of the president’s power, as well as issues requiring an applicant to attend a public meeting as part of their hiring process.
Internal Vice President (IVP) Aaminah Mohammad responded to the issues brought up by the table, assuring that there will be no delays in the hiring process if Executive Directive #10 is signed and that the table should hold on to their questions until Ilupeju could accurately address them.
Senator Amrita Julka then expressed her frustrations with the motivations behind the directive, pointing out that interim senators were not appointed through the process that the directive proposed.
“In the constitution, ASUCD units which have an established interview committee in the bylaws are listed as part of this bigger group under which elected positions such as the EAVP permanent vacancy position is also under, so it just seems kind of weird to have separate processes for that,” Julka said. “Even if you guys did want to bring this about in this way, communication would have been nice, not Friday at 8 p.m. It feels really wrong, it feels really manipulative. It feels like you’re trying to tell us what to do and that’s not the executive [office’s] job.”
Clark requested for clarification on what changed between the hiring process of the interim senators and the EAVP.
Mohammad provided reasoning for the switch.
“The hiring process for interim senators was a constitutional amendment, [and] the Constitution exists to allow for flexibility while the bylaws are there to list out specifics,” Mohammad said.
She also brought up the amount of overtime she puts in throughout these hiring processes and reiterated that the table should wait to ask their questions to Ilupeju, as he was not present to address all of their concerns.
Senator Siddharth Jasthi and External Affairs Commission (EAC) Chair Henry Rosenbach further expressed their disappointment with the directive, including delays in the hiring process and miscommunications between the Senate and Executive Office.
Rosenbach praised the work ethic of Saens and further stated a frustration with the Executive Office.
“To piggyback on what [Jasthi] was saying, working with the acting EAVP has been wonderful,” Rosenbach said. “They introduced legislation through EAC […] and they put a lot of effort into that. There was miscommunication between my commission, the EAVP and the Executive [Office] […]. It keeps looking like we are trying to do things and [the Executive Office] keeps pushing them back and back. We are trying to do ideas and projects and we are constantly [shooting] in the dark.”
Table members also brought up past issues with communication around Senate Resolution (SR) #7, affirming protections for undocumented students. At a previous meeting, Ilupeju had expressed criticism regarding the resolution and pushed to table it over concerns that not all relevant parties had been consulted.
“[The] senate table got a lot of shit for not having those conversations with the people that [SR#7] impacts,” Julka said. “I’m just a little confused as to why this impacts us but we weren’t consulted on it? I know that, [Mohammad], you’re not the one who wrote it, so this isn’t necessarily a question to you but a question to [Ilupeju]: After SR#7, being like, ‘Oh we need to have communication with administration […]’ but, we are right here; We meet with you [and] it’s very open to the public. I’m just a little confused as to why that conversation wasn’t had with us.”
Wickramasinghe said that she thought the directive was “good in theory” and could be used for future hiring processes but that it needed to be improved upon and that there needs to be more communication between members of the table and the Executive Office.
Senator Umar Shaikh ended the discussion by clarifying that Executive Directive #10 is a one-time occurance and is a conversation that needs to be had with Ilupeju present.
The table then voted on a motion to overturn Executive Directive #10, voting 8-0-6, yes-no-abstain, with Transfer Student Representative Safa Mohammad, International Student Representative Muhammad Waqar, and Senators Ahmed, Cohen, Shaikh and Jenna Younes abstaining.
Ethnic and Cultural Affairs Commission (ECAC) Chair Confirmation
Also at the Feb. 27 meeting, Faye Real, a fourth-year psychology and political science double major, was confirmed as new ECAC chair, taking over from former Chair Reem Suleiman.
Real talked about her goals to be more integrated with marginalized communities on campus and working with the Davis Student Recruitment and Retention Center.
“[I] especially [want to focus on trilateral] communities, our undocumented students and a lot of students who are being impacted by the rhetoric coming out of the current admin,” Real said. “At this point in time, that’s something I really want to draw attention to and ensure that the ECAC is giving a full and complete scope of understanding and advocacy.”
Rubin commended her answer before asking if she would “consider, specifically, Jews and Israelis as among these communities that ought to be represented as needed,” pointing to issues that he said ECAC has had in the past.
Real provided a response to Rubin’s comment.
“I absolutely consider Jews to be a community that is historically marginalized and does need a lot of representation or understanding given that realm,” Real said. “Within that realm, I would have to answer that as long as whatever you would view as being marginalized groups aligns with other groups that have historically been marginalized and also need attention and care and a lot of community advocacy, I would consider that under the umbrella of the same. But anything that is anti-Palestinian, I would not consider within the community I would hope to serve [as] the ECAC commission chair.”
Rubin clarified his question by asking if she specifically would consider Israeli students, not in a political context but in a purely cultural one, a part of that community.
“To ask me whether or not I consider Israelis a group beyond politics is a contradictory statement,” Real said. “To be Israeli is an inherently political statement and an inherently political stance, so to that effect I would not answer that question in the way that you would want me to.”
Real was confirmed 8-3-3, yes-no-abstain, with Senators Cohen, Rubin and Lexi Raben voting no and International Student Representative Muhammad Waqar and Senators Asif Ahmed and Nanki Kaur abstaining.
Cohen later criticized Real’s appointment and urged her fellow senators to uplift every member of the student body regardless of birthplace, ethnicity and/or religion.
“There are students on this campus who were born in Israel and identify solely as Israeli with no other national or cultural label to describe themselves,” Cohen said. “Their identity is an intricate part of who they are, and it is essential that they feel acknowledged and respected. It is also crucial to recognize that being Israeli or Jewish does not equate to being anti-Palestinian; assuming otherwise is a shallow and unfair judgement that wrongfully assumes a monolithic group of what Israelis and Jewish people believe.”
Cohen continued with her response.
“Given that none of the senators that represent the Jewish community could support the confirmation of this ECAC chairperson, it is clear there are serious concerns about whether this individual can truly represent and advocate for all students. Furthermore, I am deeply concerned that my fellow senators, many of whom advocate for diversity and inclusivity, choose to confirm a student who cannot even clarify their ability to properly accommodate or let alone accept an entire nationality.”
Quarterly Reports and Other Senate Business
Earlier in the meeting, the Senate heard quarterly reports from The Equitable Parking Initiative, STEM, The Pantry, Creative Media, Aggie Studios, the Environmental Policy and Planning Commission, Student Health and Wellness and Aggie Reuse.
During Ex-Officio Reports, Senators Younes and Cohen addressed the table regarding a previously brought up issue of the Coffee House (CoHo) not accurately labeling their Halal meat. They iterated to the table that the CoHo assured them this issue would be fixed.
Past meeting minutes were approved, and the table adjourned at 9:27 p.m.
Written by: Madison Peters — campus@theaggie.org
Editor’s Note: In a previous version of this article, it stated that the confirmed ECAC Chair Faye Real, planned on working with the “Davis Criminal Retention Center”. The name of the organization was incorrect and has since been edited to the correct name, “Davis Student Recruitment and Retention Center”.
Editor’s Note: In a former version of this article, President Ilupeju’s statements were missing due receiving them after the print deadline. The statements have since been added to the end of the first segment.
