By
Over the past few weeks The Cardinal has called into question the legitimacy of the SGA and its non-election. The credibility of the SGA has taken another blow with the impeachment of Sarah Hester.
The impeachment itself could have shown the SGA has high standards and cares about the quality of each member’s work, but that message was lost in the circumstances surrounding the event.
Hester may be able prove her absences to be health-related, in which case she will be able to continue in her position, according to the constitution. However, the issue should have been addressed long before it became an embarrassing problem for the SGA.
Hester’s impeachment came as a surprise to everyone, especially her two co-vice presidents and President Ryan McKinley. When asked by the senators if Hester had been performing her job appropriately, none of the three executive officers present had an answer.
There is no excuse for the SGA president to lose contact with a vice president for over a month. Hester receives full tuition and a stipend from the university. SGA leaders have a responsibility to make sure each member pulls his or her own weight. If the person is medically incapable of doing the work, the president should make sure someone steps in for him or her.
If Hester intentionally ignored McKinley’s e-mails, he should have banged on her door until he got a response. If he still received no response from her, then action should have been taken by him, not by a Speed School senator.
That the Academic Vice President could have possibly gone missing for most of the semester without ever being addressed by her boss doesn?t look good for an institution attempting to show the campus community it can properly function as a responsible representative organization for the student body.
