By Jordan Beaubois, News Editor
Photo of the Student Senate before invocation – Photo by Jordan Beaubois
The meeting began 1 minute after noon, on April 10, and following the invocation was the typical roll call, two representatives were absent, there was the approval of agenda. It had been altered to reflect the situation that occurred under the second version of the election that was sent out.
Immediately after, Gabe Hay took to the stand to discuss the very difficult situation that was about to follow. Two weeks before this, there was a breach of disclosure in the voting results regarding the senate ballot that went out. There was no attempt at voter fraud, but it was found that the results had been shared with third party members.
Hay openly argued that he was going to offer an explanation for the situation that occured and not justification. Hay stated that he was in charge of running the election ballot, and for sheer curiosity viewed the results and shared the information with a third party not affiliated with Aquinas College. However, the text message he had meant to send to the third party affiliate was sent to the Student Senate group chat instead. Thereby, making it openly public that the results of the election were not confidential nor secured.
Hay went on to say, “It was a lapse of judgement on my part, and it was a complete act of disrespect for the individual whose information was shared and for that individual I deeply apologize.” Hay continued to state how it was a “learning experience” for him and to have better judgement in the potential future opportunities he may have in which similar situations may arrive.
The transparent explanation was followed by an open Q&A session between Hay and the other representatives, senators, and advisors. The majority of the questions directed at Hay followed a line of inquiry about the legitimacy thereof, further asking clarifying questions about the integrity. Unsurprisingly, a number of those who spoke were not questions, but instead were comments that had full-handed or underhanded remarks that openly scolded Hay. A collective effort of appealing shock and questions. Despite all of this, Hay made it clear that he was not resigning and to continue to work on senate for the community at Aquinas College until he graduates.
Following Hay was another contentious point in the meeting being that of Lucas Baker violating the bylaws of the Student Senate… Baker had been running for Student Senate President and during his election he posted a video on Snapchat endorsing himself which is a violation of the Student Senate bylaws. Interestingly, during Baker’s apology speech he directly referenced Hay’s misactions. “My actions were wrong, but they weren’t calculated. I never misled anybody, I didn’t break transparency ‘for fun’ or try to undermine the integrity of the election. I broke the bylaws, but I don’t believe I broke the senate’s trust,” said Baker during his speech. Similarly, there was an open Q&A session regarding Baker’s violation of the bylaws. Baker, much like Hay, is choosing not to step-down or resign from their positions.
The remainder of the meeting was a confidential conversation to decide whether or not to hold a Grievance Board in regards to both Hay and Baker to either remove or reprimand them. During this portion of the meeting; Baker, Hay, and the Saint were asked to leave from the Wege Ballroom until the board concluded.
The Saint 