Student court overrules referendum repeal

By Kurt Esposito
Assistant Campus Editor

The Student Court ruled that the repeal of the Purdue Student Government referendum to reconfigure student representation in the senate was unconstitutional, making the referendum effective as of Wednesday night.

In a brief senate meeting Wednesday night, student body president Jim Vaca said the student senate is abolished until a new one is voted on in October because of the court's ruling.

"The decision of the court is that the senate has no constitutional right to rescind the referendum," said Jeff Knoop, acting chief justice, as he read from an official statement.

Pablo Malavenda, associate dean of students, approved the new constitution and now recognizes it as PSG.

In a letter written to the organization, Malavenda, said, "We will advise and assist in implementing the changes detailed in the referendum and the new constitution in any way we can."

Vaca's announcement was met with disgust by many of the senators. Rick Ridenour, PSG senator, refused to hear the announcement and walked out of the room. Other senators laughed at parts of the official statement read by Vaca because they felt it was ridiculous.

Maarten Rothman, PSG senator, said, "I don’t think we need to recognize dean Malavenda’s position until we have been notified by someone with the proper authority."

Clay Slaughter, PSG senator, agreed. He said PSG is not a "normal" student organization, so the Dean of Students has no authority to overrule it.

Rothman said he was outraged that the student senate was being accused of not representing the student body and asked anyone who felt that way to leave the room. And with that, Vaca, Patrick Mondi, student body vice president, and members of the senate and executive board left the room.

The remaining senators then held a senate meeting, which they thought was official, but according to others was not.

Slaughter said the meeting was official because there was a quorum, two-thirds of the senate remained. At this meeting three resolutions were passed. One resolution condemned the possible construction of fences around the fountains, another congratulated the women's basketball team on their season, and the third supported the Tippecanoe County human rights ordinance.

This confusion will not affect any PSG programs, including the Backyard Barbecue scheduled for Sunday. Mondi said the leftover legislation will be taken care of next semester.

Slaughter, however, said PSG will hold a meeting April 25 at 7 p.m. to conduct more business. The location will be announced soon.

Vaca said this meeting was PSG's last one of the semester. "I just think that tonight was a great night for the student body," he said. "I think that student government will be a lot more effective and efficient next year."

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Campus editor: Laura Pelner

Assistant campus editors: Kurt Esposito, Dave Stephens

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