The Student Senate met Thursday night for an emergency meeting in the Senate chamber to address Student Body President Whil Piavis’ vetoes of recent legislation.

Piavis was present to discuss his decisions, which the Senate overturned after he presented his reasons. Senators debated the legitimacy of his claims and ultimately struck down his vetoes of two bills that were passed at the last Senate meeting.

Memos hand-delivered by Tom Stafford, vice chancellor for student affairs, were the subject of heated debate, prompting senators to question the administration’s authority over the actions of Student Government.

One memo suspended the actions of the Student Government in the impeachment of Piavis. The other overruled the Student Government Elections Commission’s decision to allow part-time students to vote and participate in the spring student body elections.

Stafford derives this authority from code set by the UNC Board of Governors, which states that the chancellor will be responsible for “the definition of roles and functions of any institutionally recognized system of student self-government.” The chancellor, Stafford said, has delegated this authority to him.

He said he delivered the documents approximately 10 minutes before the group met.

According to one of the memos, “students are required to be regularly enrolled and to have paid the full student activity fee in order to vote and participate in Student Government.”

Senators grilled Piavis, while he defended both his relationship with members of the administration and his performance as the chief officer of the executive branch.

“They keep trying to attack my character and say that I don’t care about students,” Piavis said. “Anyone who knows me knows that’s not true. I may be a pirate, but I care about my crew.”

Conversely, Student Senate President Forrest Hinton said he felt that the Senate had successfully demonstrated a firm stance to members of the administration.

“A strong message was sent to the administration, particularly the chancellor, that Student Government believes students should have the right to vote on their own leaders and also present their voice to the administration,” Hinton said.

He said he was hurt when he received the memos and pointed to the gesture as an indication of the relationship between the leadership within the governmental body and members of the administration.

“Dr. Stafford is hoping the new leaders won’t be as bold as the Student Senate and its leadership has been,” Hinton said.

Sen. Zach Adams, a senior in industrial engineering, voiced concerns over Piavis’ and Stafford’s positions regarding GB 96, the Constitution Clarification Act. The Senate’s bill would have allowed part-time students to vote in and run for positions in the elections.

Adams cautioned that the University had conducted business allowing all students to be involved in elections for the past 20 years.

“Try not to be a pawn of the administration,” Adams said to Piavis.

Although the legislative body voted to overturn the veto of GB 96, Stafford named the action inconsequential, saying that if the referendum appears on the ballot and is passed, he will not approve it.

The group then focused on R98, the Legislative Nullification Act — again turning to a discussion of the appropriate measure of authority the administration should have. Some senators described the relationship with certain members of the administration as unhealthy.

Sen. Matt Walton, a sophomore in technology education, even called for Stafford’s retirement.

“If this person were no longer with us, with the University, a lot of these problems would be solved,” he said.

Stafford said he does not plan on retiring any time soon.

“I regret to inform them that I’m just getting started on my work here at N.C. State — I’m just getting warmed up,” he said. Stafford said he has been with the University for 35 years.

Sen. James Hankins, a sophomore in political science, said he originally voted against the Legislative Nullification Act because of the additional check on power. He rescinded his decision because he said it was important for students to have the power to make decisions.

“I don’t want to give too much power to big brother — big brother’s had too much power already,” he said.

Hinton said he plans to contact Chancellor James Oblinger to set up a meeting regarding the relationship and recent actions of Student Government and members of the administration.