With less than two months until the end of his term, St. Pete Lieutenant Governor Isaiah Castle will resign March 18 in compliance with Student Government (SG) statutes after a Title IX investigation placed him on disciplinary probation.

The investigation began in March 2020 and was concluded at the beginning of February, according to Castle. Despite being found not responsible for “all of the most serious accusations” made against him, he was still placed on disciplinary probation once the case concluded.

“I was found not responsible for all of the most serious accusations made against me,” he said. “The Student Conduct Committee that heard the case decided that one of the sanctions that were to be placed against me was disciplinary probation.”

Castle declined to comment on the allegations made against him. Senior Deputy Title IX Coordinator Araiña Muñiz was unable to discuss the case due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

Once the investigations were concluded, the case’s result was sent to SG advisers, who notified Castle he would have to submit his resignation letter by March 18. Castle said he was notified of SG’s final decision on his position in late February.

“I told my advisers the results of the case, [the advisers from each campus] talked about it and they came to the conclusion that because I have a disciplinary probation, that I couldn’t serve in my current role,” he said.

His resignation was based on SG constitutional membership requirements, which states all members of SG must be in good academic standing and “may not be under disciplinary probation, suspension or expulsion as defined by the University Code of Conduct.” 

The membership requirements were approved during last year’s midterm elections as the first SG consolidated constitution.

Gary Manka, SG Advising Training and Operations director, said in an email to The Oracle the SG constitutional clauses are equally applied across all three campuses. He said the last significant change made to the SG regulations was approved during William Warmke’s presidency in the 2013-14 term, during which the GPA requirement was raised from 2.0 to 2.5.

“SG doesn’t set the university policy or regulation on disciplinary requirements and outcomes, but once an SG student lands there and a decision has been reached by the university, then SG is obligated to follow the voice of the student body and their governing bylaws in this regard,” Manka said.

With Castle’s resignation, the spot for St. Pete’s lieutenant governor will be open — for now. The decision about whether someone will fill the spot will be made by Castle’s office partner, Gov. Andrea Rodriguez-Campos.

“I will be discussing the options with the appropriate legal counsel within Student Government throughout the next week to decide whether there will be an appointment to this position,” Rodriguez-Campos said.

Director of Student Life and Engagement at the St. Pete campus Dwayne Isaacs said he was not informed of Castle’s replacement as of Monday evening. “I don’t know [who will replace Castle],” Isaacs said. “I believe Gov. Rodriguez-Campos will have to make a decision on how she will move through that process, but I have not had an opportunity to discuss that with her.”

Castle said he has not been a part of the discussions to find his replacement. The deadline to submit his resignation letter is Thursday.