In a rare convening of the Student Council Rules and Ethics Board, Curtis Ofori appealed Council Executive Vice President Rabeen Pasha's decision to prematurely end his term as a College representative to Council.
"Rep. Ofori has been a great addition to the Council, and I regret that we had to go down this road," Pasha told the Board. "I would like to believe that everything the representative body did was fair."
Pasha unilaterally removed Ofori and Ben Hicks, also a College representative, from Council on Dec. 2 because they had transferred to the McIntire School of Commerce.
Hicks did not appeal his removal.
Ofori testified that he ran and was elected as a College representative in the spring of 2003 before he knew that he would be accepted into the Commerce School.
He maintained that his ability to fairly represent the College would not be affected by his enrollment in the Commerce school because Commerce and College students share most basic concerns and because he is currently pursuing a second major in the College.
Ofori argued that he would be able to interact with College students, despite being enrolled in the Commerce School, and represent them fairly on Council.
"I ran [for office] from the school I was in and that was the spirit of the law," said Ofori. "A membership requirement, once met, stays met."
According to Ofori, a precedent was set when Honor Committee member Brad Robinson retained his position on the Honor Committee even though he transferred to the Commerce school after being elected by the College.
Pasha countered that Student Council and the Honor Committee are separate bodies with different purposes.
Ofori said that he believed "a hasty decision was made without a thorough review of the facts."
"It is up to the Board to interpret the constitutionality," he added.
Pasha claimed that not enforcing the Council's constitution would harm the institution of student self-governance and the ideal of fair representation among the different schools at the University.
"This is a plain execution of the constitution and the by-laws," Pasha said. "There was no decision on my part. The rules make sure that there is equal representation among the schools."
The Rules and Ethics Board will file a written decision within 72 business hours of the completion of the hearing.
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