How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
The CAS student council will vote tonight on whether it should retroactively impeach former council president Meredith Dolgin, whose administration was thrown into scandal at the end of last semester by allegations of financial and electoral improprieties.
Dolgin graduated in May. But a CAS investigative panel found that her administration showed "considerable errors of judgment" and suggested that the CAS council censure or impeach the officials responsible.
This was after WSN revealed the claims of misspent money, which included $2,200 Dolgin attempted to pay her grandmother for speaking at a council meeting. Dolgin's grandmother is a licensed psychotherapist, former radio show host and Holocaust survivor; the payment was a violation of CAS's constitution, and also "a breach of trust," the investigation found.
That investigation was the second launched by CAS in the waning weeks of Dolgin's administration. A prior inquiry invalidated the council's first election based on constitutional and procedural violations reported on by WSN. Dolgin stepped down from her post rather than administer the new elections.
On Thursday, the council held its first town hall meeting of the semester to discuss the retroactive impeachment and to talk about proposals for the upcoming year. About 20 people came to the meeting, some of whom were from outside the council.
At the meeting, the council's Executive Board said retroactive impeachment would largely be a symbolic move. The vote for it would make the statement that the council would have impeached Dolgin if she did not resign last semester.
New CAS student council president Jenny Shen was student affairs chairwoman last semester and one of the council members to come forward with allegations of improprieties in Dolgin's administration. Thursday, she said the council did not want to be "bogged down in the past, but if the students want to see action then a vote would be necessary."
"You can recognize that bad things happened in the past, but you can still move on," CAS junior Rick Halmo said.
CAS senior Carlos Del Rio said that Dolgin "would never have done anything intentionally wrong."
Other students raised questions surrounding the constitutionality of retroactive impeachment, including one student, who wanted clarification about whether the current constitution was clear on how to proceed.
OTHER BUSINESS
Other topics were also discussed at the meeting, which was intended to solicit ideas and feedback from CAS students, council curriculum chair Kristen Penberthy said.
Many of the newly elected officers said they would like to see programming fostering a greater sense of community at NYU.
"The resources are there, the community is there," Shen said. "You just have to be a little more proactive."
A student brought up the lack of a vigil being organized for freshman Allan Oakley Hunter III, who committed suicide three weeks ago. Executive Board members said an organized vigil will be put off for 30 days, based on recommendations stemming from studies that show that memorializing people who commit suicide can push others to commit suicide.
The council also discussed the process of putting together a proposal for a student-run health initiative.
Another issue raised was the funding of CAS sponsored clubs. Penberthy said more money is being set aside for club usage and contingency funding. Under a new plan, contingency funding would allow for clubs to apply for more money as needed.
"We're serious about student clubs, which is why we have come up with a comprehensive guide about starting clubs that is available on our website," Shen said.
Catherine Manfre is a staff writer. E-mail her at news@nyunews.com.
