Associated Student Government Academic Director-elect Muhammad Safdari could be removed from office as early as Wednesday’s ASG Senate meeting in light of impeachment charges filed Sunday with the speaker of the senate.
The articles of impeachment are to be reviewed by ASG’s rules committee Tuesday and, if approved, a hearing will take place during Wednesday’s Senate meeting. If two-thirds of senators vote for impeachment, then Safdari, a Weinberg junior, would be removed from office immediately.
Articles of impeachment were filed with ASG Speaker Samir Pendse by former ASG Parliamentarian and Bill Pulte campaign staffer Will Upton, a Weinberg senior, in response to an inflammatory e-mail that circulated to campus listservs Thursday.
The Senate meeting will also include the swearing-in of Safdari, President-elect Mike McGee, Vice President-elect Tommy Smithburg and Student Life Director-elect Matthew Bellassai.
According to Pendse, ASG has no specific guidelines set for impeachment hearings in its constitution. Although details have not yet been finalized, Pendse said the impeachment debate will likely proceed as a closed-door trial, where senators are able to call witnesses and ask questions, participate in a debate and vote.
On Thursday, an accusatory e-mail written by Safdari, originally sent as a private message to supporters, was distributed to a number of campus listservs. The Academic Director-elect later retracted statements made in the e-mail, and the McGee-Smithburg campaign asserted it had not approved the letter.
Safdari said he takes responsibility for the e-mail but added it should not reflect an inability to fulfill his role in ASG.
“Obviously it was a personal e-mail – I sincerely regret what happened,” Safdari said. “Having met with administrators and other leaders on campus, I cannot understand how a leaked personal e-mail can have any bearing on how I can fulfill my position.”
The election committee held an emergency meeting early Friday morning to levy sanctions against the McGee-Smithburg ticket, and voted to post a letter to the election’s Web site that included the committee’s citation of the campaign.
Pulte’s 20 percent loss in Friday’s runoff exacerbated Upton’s disappointment with the election and Safdari’s actions.
“I took this upon myself as a student first and foremost, then as the former ASG parliamentarian and, lastly, in the back of my mind, as someone who has a lot of respect for Bill and Pat both and felt that what was done to them was completely unjust,” he said. “I really do not believe that someone who did such a thing can adequately represent the students in the eyes of the students and the administration.”
With two in-house candidates for president, many ASG senators took sides in the election – Pendse, a Weinberg junior, said he anticipates a heated debate in the impeachment hearing.
“Presiding over the impeachment debate, I don’t want to be biased one way or the other,” he said, and urged senators to “keep it objective, focus on the issues, focus on his ability to be that ambassador to the students and faculty.”
The rules committee filled three openings Monday in advance of its decision on the impeachment charges today. Committee members are meant to be “unaffiliated with campaigns and experienced within ASG and on campus,” Pendse said.
Smithburg said he hopes ASG can move quickly past the impeachment and get back to the business of being an advocate for students.
“We’re here to improve the experience at NU for students,” the Weinberg junior said. “Let’s get this over with and get back to what we’re here to do.”
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