Even though it was the last Monday meeting of the spring 2013 semester, the Student Association made a significant change to its presidential election process and passed a resolution calling for Syracuse University Athletics to pay the $7.5 million Big East conference exit fee.

“I’ve never been more proud of a session I’ve been a part of in terms of how strong our assembly is and how much potential you guys have,” Vice President Duane Ford told the general assembly of its work during the semester.

The meeting was held at 7:30 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium. It unofficially marked the halfway point of the 57th Session, which saw the resignation of several cabinet members, a six-hour impeachment proceeding against President Allie Curtis and the subsequent loss of her right to preside over meetings.

With a vote of 20 in favor, nine opposed and one abstention, the general assembly approved a bill changing presidential elections: The president and vice president will now run together on one ticket. Right now, the president appoints the vice president after he or she is elected by the student body.

Curtis called the passing of the bill a “historic moment.”

The bill was introduced now to give potential candidates time to prepare during the summer, she said.

“This is the time of year where anyone who has the slightest inclination to run for president is already beginning to get together their campaign team,” she said.

Before the vote, former parliamentarian and current assembly representative Eugene Law motioned to amend the bill. Instead of having the president and vice president run on one ticket, he argued, there should be separate elections for both.

Law said he hasn’t seen a student government in which the students don’t elect their vice president.

Recorder Nick Bonafilia and several assembly representatives said the election of a vice president with different ideas than the president could cause tension.

“I think we’ve shown this semester — and last semester — what can happen when you have a cabinet that’s divided in ideologies,” he said. “It’s good to have diverse opinions and dialogue, but you want to make sure as president that you’re appointing somebody or running with somebody who can work with you.”

But Law said this shouldn’t make a difference because both are representing the student body.

“When there is responsibility given by the students in terms of an elected position, I feel there should be and would be a lot less issues between personalities,” Law said.

The assembly did not pass the proposed amendment.

Toward the end of the meeting, Board of Elections and Membership Chair Emily Ballard and former Technology Director Ross Lazerowitz introduced a resolution calling for SU Athletics, not the entire university, to pay for the Big East exit fee.

Though a few assembly representatives expressed hesitations about the bill, it ultimately passed.

Ballard and Lazerowitz started an online petition last week calling for SU Athletics to pay the fee. The University Senate passed a similar resolution earlier this month.

“It’s really on principle,” Ballard said. “Are they putting athletics first or are they putting academics first?”

Other business discussed:

• Three members of the Finance Board — Nick Mancari, Matt Fraser and Kyle Coleman — ran for re-election. In the end, the assembly re-confirmed Mancari and Fraser, but not Coleman.
• The general assembly passed a resolution calling for SU to divest its endowment from the top 200 publically traded fossil fuel companies.

Published on April 30, 2013 at 2:19 am

Contact Dylan: dmsegelb@syr.edu | @dylan_segelbaum