The ASUU president has been impeached and removed from office for the first time in ASUU’s history.
Former vice president Sam Ortiz, a senior in social work, is now president of ASUU after the Senate impeached former president Nick Ferre, a graduate student in education, leadership and policy, for falling below the 2.5 GPA requirement for ASUU officers. At the hearing on May 23, 12 senators voted to remove Ferre from office with one against and one abstention. A two-thirds vote is required to impeach.
“This was not a happy situation for anyone. I was not expecting the situation to occur, and was certainly not pleased that it did. However, because the situation arose I moved forward as dictated by Red Book and think it is appropriate that it was upheld,” said ASUU assistant attorney general Wynchester Whetten in an email. “It was appropriate for the Senate to vote to uphold the constitution of the student body. It protects the integrity of the organization and the power of the document that governs it.”
The grades of members of the ASUU executive and legislative branches are reviewed after every semester. At the end of Spring Semester, Ferre’s grades had dropped below the 2.5 cumulative GPA threshold, according to Whetten.
Ferre had an incomplete class on his record and asked to be able to retake the class to put him back over the threshold, said Ortiz. However, senators felt the best decision was to let Ferre focus on academics. A 3.0 is required for graduate students to be in good standing with the U.
Ortiz was surprised when he heard the impeachment process had started and asked not to participate to avoid a conflict of interest.
“I didn’t think it was appropriate, so I just took a step back and the process went on with those who had oversight over that,” Ortiz said.
Ortiz said the only impact of the impeachment on ASUU’s goals will be a slower start.
“I’ve just tried to touch base with all the directors within ASUU just to make sure that they understand what took place and to make sure they’re OK and that they’re still working. So that’s been my number one priority and then just trying to learn the role of the president, because I previously hadn’t gotten any training on that,” Ortiz said. “The last week and a half has been kind of overwhelming trying to pick up the reins and make sure that ASUU continues to fulfill its mission.”
Ortiz has started the process for selecting a new vice president. Red Book stipulates that the vice president must be chosen from the ASUU assembly.
“I’ve just put together an application and I emailed [it] out to all the current assembly members to allow all of them to apply,” Ortiz said. “Then I will interview them and try and choose a vice president who I think is capable and also aligns with the vision I have for ASUU in terms of diversity, inclusivity and transparency.”
Ferre did not file an appeal to the ASUU Supreme Court within the 10 day period specified in Red Book and did not respond to requests for comment.