More than half of Student Senate’s voting members who cast ballots in an executive session did not have confidence in President Nick Southall.
Senate’s constitution calls for voting members to cast a vote of confidence in the four executives during a closed-door executive session at the second-to-last general body meeting of the semester. A two-thirds vote of no confidence in an executive session is needed for his or her immediate removal from office.
Thirty-five voting members participated in the anonymous vote two weeks ago. A total of 19 members — more than 57 percent of the total vote excluding abstentions — expressed no confidence in Southall, while two abstained.
Only votes of confidence or no confidence are measured in whether an exectuive meets the two-thirds threshold for removal, Southall said.
Southall fell three votes short of being removed.
Five lacked confidence in Vice President Anna Morton and no members voted no confidence in Treasurer Austin LaForest. Emma Wright, chief of staff, was unable to be reached for the tallies late Thursday.
The votes were not announced following the executive session but were released by the respective executives following a public records request by The Post to Ohio University’s Office of Legal Affairs. The executives provided their respective vote tallies.
Senate’s executives announced Thursday that they will be looking into conducting all votes publicly instead of casting some in executive session in the future.
This came a day after Southall said he was doubtful the body would follow
Graduate Student Senate’s lead in holding itself to the standards of a public body under Ohio Sunshine Laws. GSS members voted at their Monday meeting to uphold themselves to the same standards as a public body by not casting votes in closed-door sessions.
Southall, Morton and LaForest presented a statement to The Post on Thursday explaining their desire to reconsider the body’s actions during executive sessions.
This came after they met with Legal Affairs and senate’s adviser, Vice President for Student Affairs Ryan Lombardi.
“Through further inspection of our current roles, we do recognize the necessity for updates and change,” the statement said.
The statement came after The Post questioned that voting practice.
The executives will be discussing the proposed changes with the rest of the body, as any formal alteration in the rules first requires a senate-wide discussion, and OU’s Board of Trustees must also approve any changes to senate’s constitution.
Legal Affairs recently deemed senate to not be a public body, meaning that it is not prohibited from voting during executive sessions.
“It’s good that it’s brought up now and we’re looking to change it,” Morton said. “We’re thinking long-term here.”
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This article appeared in print under the headline "Three votes separated Student Senate President Southall from removal"
