SG committee chairman ousted out of office
A Student Government (SG) senator was voted out of his position Tuesday night for violating statutes.
Senators voted for Programming and Audits Committee Chairman Ayaz Hemani to leave his position after he disobeyed SG statutes by conducting a meeting and not recording its minutes. He will still retain his senator status.
On Nov. 22, following a Senate meeting, Hemani met with a member of his judicial branch in private to get their opinions on applications for funding student organization’s events.
“It was a discussion, a conversation between two people. I needed to ask people which questions they had written down,” he said. “I did not personally see it as a meeting, I saw it as, ‘I am approaching my committee members to see their feedback on the applications.'”
Hemani was also accused of not sending out an agenda for his committee’s meeting, which was held on Nov. 18. As a result, that meeting was canceled. However, according to SG statutes, he had to cancel the meeting 24 hours prior to its scheduled time – he canceled it three hours before it was supposed to start.
“It is not a decision I made lightly,” said President Pro Tempore Rachel Brown. “I really care about all my senators and this isn’t an easy decision, but a law was broken. A very serious law was broken.”
During the meeting, Hemani said he understood that his actions were against SG policy. However, he said the meeting was only an opinionated discussion and not a professional meeting that would affect the committee. He also said he was working during the time in which he had to send out the Nov. 18 cancellation email.
The senators voted 31 to 5 to remove Hemani from his position, with one abstained vote.
More Stories
USF admin’s response to suicides unclear. What we know so far.
USF’s administration will not say who or how it will prevent future suicides on campus a month after a student leapt from an upper floor balcony of the Interdisciplinary Science Building – the third suicide since fall 2022. The Oracle has asked repeatedly about which USF administrators are overseeing suicide prevention initiatives and how the […]
USF SG leaders look back on campaign accomplishments while on non-speaking terms
Student body president Cesar Esmeraldi and vice president Elizabeth Volmy reached nearly every campaign goal during their term. The one thing that didn’t persevere was their unity. The pair ended their tenure reflecting on it from separate rooms. “We’ve had a great year,” Esmeraldi said. “I’m very happy with everything we’ve built. But because of […]
USF’s ‘Take Back the Night’ allows sexual survivors to share pain, resilience: ‘Recovery isn’t easy.’
A sexual assault survivor, who was the first speaker at Wednesday evening’s “Take Back the Night,” said the hardest day of their life was not when they were assaulted – it was the day after. “When I had to call my mom and tell her how her [child lost their] virginity and tell my therapist […]
USF campus ministers offer perspective on stadium development: ‘Exciting benefit of exposure.’
Take a tranquil stroll down Sycamore Drive. It’s a quieter part of campus, hidden away from the usual hustle and bustle of USF. It’s home to an area colloquially known as “Religious Row,” a collection of on-campus religious organizations. In just a few years – with the construction of an on-campus football stadium – the […]
McKinley Drive closed down for death investigation, Tampa police say
The intersection between Fowler Avenue and McKinley Drive was closed due to a death investigation late Wednesday afternoon, according to the Tampa Police Department (TPD). A man shot himself after making a bomb threat in the parking lot of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), located at 11201 McKinley Drive, according to TPD. Police said […]
USF 2024-25 A&S budget to increase student organization funding in Tampa and St. Pete
The Student Government (SG) Senate approved the 2024-25 Student Activities & Services (A&S) budget for all three campuses this Tuesday, seeing an overall increase in allocated money to student organizations. The vote was 26-0, approving the budget. Related: 2023-24 A&S budget down $5 million from last fiscal year Students pay fees in their tuition – […]