A member of the University Judiciary Committee announced his resignation over the weekend because of what he saw as misconduct by an ad hoc committee.
J.V. Nable, chair of data management and a counselor for the UJC, said he decided to resign because he did not agree with the issues subcommittee's handling of the issue of reapportionment of representatives.
According to Nable, the impetus for the reapportionment issue occurred two years ago when there were no competitive UJC elections outside the College. Representatives from the other undergraduate and graduate schools were elected by a write-in vote or by appointment. An ad hoc committee was established to explore the possibility of reapportioning the number of judges from each school.
When the issues subcommittee presented three reapportionment proposals last spring, they were met with resistance by several UJC members, Nable said. Instead of debating the issue with elected members and proposing an amendment by a two-thirds majority vote, the subcommittee decided to go ahead and collect 900 signatures from the student body to get a referendum on the ballot, according to Nable.
"Honestly, I mean, they have the ability to do that," he said. "It just doesn't seem like the right thing to do."
Issues subcommittee Co-Chair Josh Sear said reapportionment is something the committee has put on its list of issues to look at but currently has no intention of taking any action to address it.
"We don't have any current proposal. We don't have any plan," Sear said. "It's just a discussion that it is an issue that perhaps at some point during the year, it is something that needs to be looked at."
Sear said he and Nable had a conversation Wednesday evening about reapportionment in which Sear spoke hypothetically about the issue being taken to the student body. Sear said he was not speaking as the issues subcommittee co-chair but simply was expressing his own opinion on the matter.
"I thought it was just a friendly discussion," he said. "I can only assume he thought it was something more than a hypothetical discussion."
Sear said he thinks Nable misunderstood the nature of their conversation.
"Maybe I misspoke or something," he said.
UJC Chair Angela Carrico said she was present during Sear and Nable's conversation and thought Sear was speaking hypothetically.
"It was more of a hypothetical thing than an actual tangible thing, and I am really surprised that J.V. resigned because of it," Carrico said.
Carrico said it would not be possible for the issues subcommittee to bypass the entire Committee and go directly to the student body.
"The issues committee can't just go as a committee and get signatures unless they have the consent of the rest of the committee," she said.
Nable said it was his understanding that the subcommittee had already made the decision to go to a ballot initiative.
"If it was just hypothetical, there would have been no need to talk about getting 900 signatures," he said.
Nable said he is unsure whether he would revoke his resignation if UJC members approached him about clearing up the alleged misunderstanding.
As of now, Nable said his resignation will take effect Nov. 5 after his final assigned trial.
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