BREAKING: After two hours, Student Assembly fails to elect a new officer

• S.A. President explained precedent on replacing officers. Critics disputed this. 
• After a series of votes, Student Assembly fails to elect a new permanent V.P. Finance
• The more than $3.5 million byline funding proposal not yet sent to President Pollack

This week’s Student Assembly meeting was stuck in a procedural quagmire, as representatives failed to elect a permanent Vice President of Finance.

As the Cornell Review reported last week, Assembly president Anuli Ononye (‘22) announced the appointment of an interim V.P. of Finance, following objections from members. At that meeting, Ononye acknowledged that the Assembly’s parliamentarian was not present, so the issue could be considered in the future.

During the announcements portion of this week’s meeting, Ononye said that the by-laws made it unclear whether the runner-up in the previous internal officer election or the winner of a special election should assume a vacant position. Ononye stated that the Office of Assemblies recommended that the Student Assembly follow the Charter of the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, which provided guidance on a possible election time-frame and candidate qualifications.

V.P. External Affairs Annette Gleiberman (‘22) called for the Assembly to go into “executive session.” According to the by-laws:

Executive session shall be closed to non-voting, non-executive members of the assembly. Community members may be invited by the assembly to participate in an executive session.

Gleiberman also disputed Ononye’s interpretation, saying that the by-laws required officers (of which the V.P. Finance is one) to stay until the end of their term or their successor is elected. Ononye responded, saying that this provision had been interpreted differently.

A lengthy debate  ensued on the nature of “executive session” and whether to enter executive session. The motion to move into executive session failed to pass by the required two-thirds vote.

Two other motions followed. College of Arts and Sciences Representative Everest Yan (‘22) proposed another motion to enter executive session. V.P. Internal Affairs Joseph Mullen (‘24) motioned to adjourn. Both motions failed to pass.

Dyson School of Business Representative Kate Santacruz (‘22) made a motion to vote for the next V.P. Finance, which passed. First Generation Student Representative Valeria Valencia (‘23) was nominated, as was LGBTQIA+ Liaison At-Large Dillon Eisman (‘22). Gleiberman initially was nominated, but she withdrew her nomination, following Eisman’s entry into the internal election. Students With Disabilities Representative At-Large Duncan Cady (‘23) motioned to table the election to next week’s meeting, which passed.

Mullen then made a motion to adjourn the meeting, but was met with a point of order which appealed Ononye’s nomination of an interim V.P. Finance. Following another lengthy debate, a motion to end debate proposed by School of Industrial & Labor Relations Representative Nicole Overton (‘23) passed over the required two-thirds margin. In a vote of 9-10-2, the Assembly narrowly failed to appeal Ononye’s nomination.

The deadline for the Assembly to send its more than $3.5 million by-line recommendation to university president Martha Pollack, the last day of finals this semester, is fast approaching. Yet, after two hours of debate, the Assembly was left with no permanent V.P. Finance elected.

The author of this article was present at the Student Assembly meeting, which was open to the public. Any supplementary information contained in this article is publicly available.