by Abby Koch–Morningside Student Government raised the possibility of censure against freshman senator Caleb Lubbers during the Feb. 2 meeting. Student government senators decided in a 9-4-1 vote that no course of censure will take place against Lubbers’ position.
The motion of censure was made by sophomore senator Collin Adank, due to reports of Lubbers not following the senator’s oath. The constituent reports stated Lubbers was pushing his own agenda, swaying issues, and making disrespectful remarks about other senators.
Dani Fennessy, advisor to student government, stated she received emails about the situation. She mentioned she tried to meet with him about the situation and the motion prior to the meeting. Lubbers did not meet with her.
Lubbers read Fennessy’s email to the group. He said there was no direct implication that this action would take place. Fennessy asked Lubbers to read his response; he declined to meet due to prior commitments.
When asked who made the reports, Vice President Jolene Horn said they were made anonymously. In addition, there were three similar reports made this week about the issue.
It was brought up that constituents reported to other senators they did not feel comfortable bringing up issues and concerns to Lubbers.
President Kiki Bennett explained the processes of censure and impeachment for the senators and all those in attendance.
Censure motion can be issued against any member of student government by a two-thirds vote if found in violation of duties. One censure is treated as a warning against that member. If a student government member achieves a second censure, it is considered as an impeachment.
Impeachment motion is only achieved by the executive council of student government with the addition of an investigation and an ad hoc committee. If the evidence supports impeachment, the senator must resign immediately and is not permitted to run for office at any point in time.
Lubbers stated that he was unaware of actions being made against him. He added that he has worked tirelessly as a senator, including his efforts on the bylaws and constituency reports. “I feel like everybody knew about this but me and I’m the accused,” said Lubbers.
A ballot vote was done by the senators, with the exception of Lubbers. The ballot tally was nine votes for censure, four votes against, and one vote abstaining. From this final result, Morningside Student Government could not censure Lubbers.
The last action relating to censure or impeachment happened against Brendan Pinto, who was president of student government during 2013-2014. Pinto avoided the possible end result by resigning his position.
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