“I did not sign the vote of no confidence against the Board of Visitors,” Michael Mitchell, Student Council presidential candidate and third-year Commerce student, said at the Student Council presidential debate Feb. 15.
Mitchell released a statement Sunday evening, asserting that he signed Student Council’s vote of no confidence in the Board of Visitors Aug. 8, despite repeated statements he has made throughout his campaign that he was not a signatory.
“The idea that I did not speak up is simply not accurate — when I previously said I did not sign it, I did so because I did not want to imply that I put my name on it when I only signed it through my executive position,” Mitchell wrote in Sunday’s release.
At the debate, Mitchell’s assertions that he did not sign the vote of no confidence were, according to him, because of his duty to protect his “constituents.” As Vice President for Organizations, Mitchell oversees and allocates funds to Contracted Independent Organizations — he said this duty to allocate funding is what makes the Organizations Branch of Student Council an agency of the Board.
“[Choosing not to sign the resolution] has nothing to do with personal beliefs. This was protecting my constituents — clubs — something that I would also do as president for the student body,” Mitchell said at the debate. “But to give you all some context, [the clubs] were extremely stressed. Again, federal overreach. They didn't know if they were going to shut down and their operations would be tampered with.”
The vote was sponsored by Clay Dickerson, Student Council president and fourth-year College student, Imane Akhanous, Student Council chair of the Representative Body and fourth-year College student and Princess Wuraola Olubuse-Omisore, Student Council vice president for administration and graduate public health student. According to Akhanous, Mitchell had the opportunity to sponsor the vote. The vote was also “on behalf of” elected leadership of the Student Council Executive Board — which includes Mitchell, who currently serves as VPO — the Fourth Year Trustees, the Third Year Class Council and the Second Year Class Council.
Student Council’s vote of no confidence in the Board came approximately one month after former University President Jim Ryan resigned under pressure from the Justice Department. The vote claimed the Board was not considering student input throughout the search process for the next permanent president and called for the presidential search committee to increase transparency.
Aside from Mitchell’s signature on the vote of no confidence, the authorship of the resolution, and other statements released by Student Council throughout the summer, is another point of contention mentioned both in Mitchell’s statement Sunday and during the Student Council presidential debate.
Mitchell’s opposing candidate — third-year College student Micah Andrews — said during the debate that she is and will continue to be an advocate for the student body, citing her history of speaking out against the Board. She never claimed to assist in drafting the resolution, and only noted during the presidential debate that she was a key author of the letter Student Council released the evening Ryan resigned.
“I stopped on the side of the highway … and wrote that letter that came out that night about Jim Ryan stepping down,” Andrews said at the debate. “I think that it was the sentiment of the student body that everyone was very, very upset … every single letter that came out from Student Council — every single statement — I had some point in authoring.”
Although Andrews claimed to contribute to the authoring of several statements released by Student Council following Ryan’s resignation, she did not claim to play a role in the drafting of the Aug. 8 no confidence resolution.
As explained in Mitchell’s Sunday release, statements and resolutions are distinct in that statements are collectively written by the Executive Board, while only representatives and elected members can sponsor and contribute to the drafting process of resolutions. Therefore, Andrews’ position as Chief of Support and Access Services does not allow her to contribute to the drafting process of resolutions.
In a statement to The Cavalier Daily, Andrews confirmed she did not assist in drafting the resolution, but emphasized that she was in strong support of that legislation.
“The other elected officials on Student Council drafted and sponsored the legislation,” Andrews wrote. “Though as Chief of Support and Access Services, which is an un-elected appointment, I cannot propose legislation as stated in the Constitution, I supported the vote of no confidence alongside others on the Executive Board.”
Akhanous, Student Council chair of the Representative body and fourth-year College student, confirmed in a statement to The Cavalier Daily that Andrews participated in the drafting of statements and letters released on behalf of the Student Council Executive Board over the summer, and that she did not partake in the drafting of the resolution that declared no confidence in the Board.
“Resolutions are written by representatives as they voice the opinion of the representative body and in some select few cases, others can sign on/sponsor,” Akhanous wrote. “In Micah's capacity as chief of SAS, she cannot sponsor resolutions.”
Further, Mitchell similarly explained that resolutions are debated and voted on amongst representatives, and therefore solely express the views of the Student Council Representative Body.
“As an unelected officer, my opponent played no part in the drafting of this resolution — in fact, she did not see the text of the resolution until it was already written,” Mitchell wrote in Sunday’s release.
In Mitchell’s statement — after pointing out that he did sign the resolution because he is an elected member of the Student Council Executive Board —- he still noted that he did not sign his name “outright” as a sponsor of the resolution.
“My decision not to sign my name outright on the resolution was a strategic decision to best serve students and execute my role in Student Council,” Mitchell wrote.
Mitchell is a member of the “Dream Ahead” presidential ticket, alongside Saehee Pérez, Student Council vice president for administration candidate and third-year College student and Harper Tran, Student Council vice president for operations candidate and third-year Batten student.
At the time of publication, Dickerson did not respond to request for comment.
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