ASG senators defeated a constitutional amendment to create a vice president for the organization Wednesday night but created the office by changing the ASG code, bringing a three-week-long debate and amendment process to a close.
The amendment failed by a vote of 23-1-4, falling four votes short of the two-thirds majority required for passage of a constitutional amendment.
Shortly afterwards, an amendment was made to the ASG code to create the VP office in the cabinet, which passed with no opposition.
ASG President Neal Sales-Griffin said that despite the back-and-forth tenor of the session, very little had been changed from the code as it stood last week.
As originally proposed, the vice president would have been elected by the Senate to be be the president’s second-in-command, supervising the four current vice presidents and succeeding the president if necessary. The position would also have served as the main liaison to the administration.
Because the amendment failed, the vice presidential position will no longer succeed the president and will appointed by Sales-Griffin. The overall role, however, will remain the same, Sales-Griffin said.
Sales-Griffin, who initially proposed multiple changes to ASG via constitutional amendment, said the amendment’s failure to muster a two-thirds majority was not due to a lack of support, but a lack of turnout.
“A lot of people who were supporting it didn’t show up because it was Reading Week,” Sales-Griffin said.
However, ASG Parliamentarian Will Upton, once an opponent of the amendment, then a supporter, said none of the senators who spoke out at today’s meeting had attended the public or private meetings to modify the original proposal.
“It’s sad that senators do that,” the Weinberg junior said. “I’d want to think that people should be more involved.”
In a microcosm of the evening’s events, Ayers Senator Robert Hong spoke out against hastily amending the constitution, provoking an abrupt reaction from Upton.
“It feels like we’re rushing it just so that we’re able to get it passed by the election,” the Weinberg freshman said.
“Have you been aware we’ve been debating this for three weeks?” Upton asked.
But whatever the outcome, Sales-Griffin said that the experience of entire process of changing ASG had been beneficial for the organization.
“There’s no more confusion,” Sales-Griffin said. “Senators have found out a lot more about ASG, and that’s a win-win.”
