Student body president candidate Rick Ingram’s position as a delegate in the UNC-system Association of Student Governments was called into question last week by Student Body Treasurer and Vice President of ASG Dakota Williams.
This issue brings an inconsistency to light that should be addressed by Student Congress.
The Student Code allows student government leaders to remove students serving as external appointments if they miss more than one meeting. Student Body President Hogan Medlin dismissed the accusation because Ingram had given advanced notice of one of his absences.
Medlin has missed several ASG meetings, but has not been expelled from ASG because the rule in the Code does not apply to him.
The UNC-Chapel Hill delegation to ASG includes the student body president, the speaker of Student Congress and two external appointments.
Under the Code only the external appointments can be held accountable for their attendance, while the student body president and speaker are not. Student Congress should consider legislation making sure that all are held accountable in equal measure so that UNC is fully represented at meetings — both ASG and otherwise.
Furthermore, Williams’ accusations reek of political game-playing. Ingram did not say that Williams was out to get him, but he agrees that the timing of the accusation is suspicious. The connections are hard to ignore — Williams doesn’t seem to have the warmest relationship with Ingram.
We’re glad that Williams knows the intricacies of the Code, but he only bastardizes its spirit by invoking it for political purposes — which we believe he has done. Ingram has only one unexcused ASG absence, and other members of the delegation have more.
And the fact that Medlin decided not to let Ingram go, in spite of the rule, attests to the good faith on Ingram’s part of meeting his delegate responsibilities.
