Student Council sent a referendum to the spring ballot last night that would effectively eliminate the executive vice president's ability to vote except in case of a tie and give all other Council officers, including the president, the same voting powers as other Council members.
The measure passed only after hours of heated debate and political maneuvering.
The bill, which had to be approved last night in order to be placed on the spring ballot, was not on last night's original agenda.
Leah Eads, chair of the ad-hoc committee for the revision of constitution and bylaws, acting as a proxy for Vice President for Organizations Eli DeJarnette, disputed the agenda, citing repeated failed attempts to get the bill on the agenda.
"I feel that it is a grievance against me and my committee," Eads said.
Executive Vice President Rebeen Pasha, however, said all amendments to the constitution had to be considered for one full week before the body could vote on them. Pasha, who is responsible for setting Council's agenda, argued that the body could not vote on the matter because it was not submitted to him on time.
"We've been working on this since last semester, and we've taken the proper steps," Eads said. "I am not trying to get around the procedure."
Ad-hoc committee member Gavin Reddick said Pasha had previously given him his personal assurance that the bill could be discussed at the previous week's meeting, Feb. 17, without a formally-presented bill, which would have allowed for a vote last night. But Pasha claimed he was only following procedure in keeping the measure off the agenda.
"We should have enough time to consult the student body," Pasha said. "Adding it to the agenda tonight is out of order. I am absolutely flabbergasted that such a thing has come up in the matter it has."
College Rep. Darius Nabors supported Pasha in sticking to the constitution.
"When you take an oath of office, this isn't a matter of what you feel," he said. "It's an issue of whether or not it is constitutional. It doesn't matter if the situation sucks or not."
Most members of the body, though, expressed frustration about the proceedings.
"I'm really embarrassed that this is the conversation we're having," Council President Daisy Lundy said. "This is quite frankly a waste of all our time."
After a long debate, Council voted to put the bill on the meeting's agenda.
In order to actually approve the placement of a referendum concerning the amendment, Council needed a three-fourths majority.
While three-fourths of the representative body present at the meeting voted in favor of the motion for referendum, a dispute arose over whether a three-fourths majority of the entire Council, both present and absent, was needed.
Law School Rep. Andrew Woodson, who served as chair pro tem following Pasha's temporary removal from the chairmanship, ruled the bill did not pass because a three-fourths majority of the entire elected body was needed.
Several members of Council then left the meeting.
"This is getting ridiculous," said Commerce School Rep. Jamie Sisley. "This is crazy. This is not good for Council at all."
College Rep. Tom Gibson echoed Sisley's sentiments.
"I don't understand what happened today," he said. "Is this what is acceptable at the University of Virginia? This is not acceptable."
The Council members who left then returned with 35 signatures on a written petition supporting the bill.
Under Council rules, only two-thirds of the elected body is required to approve an amendment with a written petition of 25 signatures or more.
Even with the petition, the motion failed by one vote.
After Council moved on to Council Concerns, the portion of the meeting that traditionally takes place just prior to adjournment, a motion to reconsider the bill was called when College Rep. Marisa Nelson joined the meeting.
Nelson, voting in favor of the amendment, created the two-thirds majority needed to pass the bill.
"So much for self-governance at the University of Virginia," Pasha said.
Pasha also indicated he would bring forth a rules and ethics hearing.
Following the meeting, which adjourned at 11:11 p.m., heated words were exchanged between Eads and Pasha, according to Eads.
"He [Pasha] put his finger in my face and said, 'if I ever talk to you again, I'll be damned,'" Eads said.
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