SGA frozen after election controversy

Collage by Easton Clark, Photo Editor

Chapman’s Student Government Association (SGA) is being frozen from all activities by the university administration for alleged negligence of university protocol. This action follows an unconventional election cycle, which included delayed results, special hearings, disqualifications and a forecasted special election.

On the morning of March 16, Dean of Students Jerry Price sent an email to the SGA president, vice president and director of senate informing them that the Chapman administration was prohibiting the club from holding any meetings, elections and events, as well as pausing the budget, which oversees over $1 million dollars in club funding. Requests for funding are temporarily reassigned to the Student Activity Fee Advisory Committee (SAFAC). 

“Quite frankly, I am relieved (administrators) are stepping in to support SGA (as we) navigate this process because it has been extremely overwhelming for our SGA executive leadership,” current SGA President Cintya Felix told The Panther.

Price’s email to SGA stated the following violations: applying election rules in a manner inconsistent to university protocol, holding hearings for allegations of discrimination and harassment without jurisdiction and using unfair hearing procedures. 

Price emphasized the abnormality of the situation, saying it is the first of its kind in his career at Chapman.

“Our Elections Committee and Judicial Board had been enforcing student conduct rules throughout the election, as well as getting in sensitive territory when it came to restricting free speech,” Felix said. “This, along with other internal developments, contributed to a bigger picture where there were complaints raised based on the violation of our Constitution.” 

SGA leadership will continue to be paid as they navigate the situation. The president receives a stipend of $15,000, the vice president gets $12,000 and the director of senate is paid at an hourly rate of $16.90. 

“Throughout the election process, the Elections Committee and the Judicial Branch were tasked with interpreting and enforcing SGA’s governing documents,” SGA Director of Senate Ryan Vega told The Panther. “At times, those responsibilities overlapped with broader university policies, which created complex situations for student leaders navigating the process.”

A week ago, The Panther broke the news of SGA’s plans to hold a special election and the disqualification of the winning ballot. The special election will now have to wait until SGA is unfrozen, which will require a return to “good standing” with the Chapman administration according to Price.

In the recent election cycle, presidential candidate Jason Wu Chen and vice presidential candidate Alexis Reeves were disqualified by the Elections Committee and the Judicial Board. According to Felix, the alleged violations were threatening the election’s integrity, logging onto an SGA Panther Connect account during the cycle and breaking student conduct. 

“This freeze gives university officials the opportunity to slow down and investigate what happened,” Chen and Reeves said in a joint statement. “We don't have any idea what will happen next, but at this point it is out of student hands. It lets us slow down and take a breath before irreversible harm is done. If a special election is still in order at some point, we will still run.”

Confusion arose when the Chen-Reeves ticket was announced publicly as the winners on the same day that the runners-up, Maximilian Wiseman and Miles McAndrew, were also told that they had won.

“I hope all will cooperate with the administration to resolve the current election dispute in a manner that is consistent with university standards and expectations, so that the integrity of elections is preserved,” Wiseman told The Panther.

Throughout the election and in its aftermath, SGA has conducted its own hearings to address the complications. According to Price, some hearings have been held out of jurisdiction and have lacked ethical standards.

As SGA is prohibited from communicating during the freeze, all updates on the organization's leadership and status must come from Chapman’s administrators.

This is a developing story that The Panther will continue to report on as the situation unfolds.