Two years ago, it caused a ruckus. The Student Senate and administrators fought and argued over its legality.
Except two years ago, the impeachment process was an attempt to get Whil “The Pirate Captain” Piavis out of office. And it was clear the bill would be filed and who would sponsor it from the beginning.
This time, the filing for impeachment is a little more vague.
According to several members of Student Government, a bill calling for the impeachment of Student Body President Bobby Mills is in the process of being filed.
And according to Student Government sources, who asked to remain anonymous, those involved in the creation of the bill include Student Senate President Greg Doucette, a senior in computer science, and Student Senators Brandon McPherson, a senior in political science, and Robert Waldrup, a senior in meteorology.
Doucette denied any ties to the bill, claiming its creation to be a bunch of rumors. McPherson denied having any knowledge of the bill, and Waldrup refused to comment.
“My understanding is that the president’s efforts to get rid of the only [student] policy-making body this weekend are what prompted it,” Doucette said.
If the impeachment goes through, which Doucette said is intentionally designed to be difficult, he would take Mills’ role as student body president.
“I’ve had my two cents offered … I don’t want his position,” Doucette said.
According to Doucette, he disagreed with Mills’ conduct this weekend in requesting that the General Assembly of the Association of Student Governments be disbanded for the time being.
“Whether it’s an impeachable offense or not, that’s up to [the Senate Government Operations Committee],” Doucette said.
Doucette said if the bill were to pass, he would try to find a way to hold a re-election for SBP instead.
But, Doucette said he is skeptical because five senators have to sign off on a bill before it can be filed and he said at this time of the semester, it would be difficult with some senators concentrating on graduation and others on running for election to higher positions in Student Government.
Mills, a senior in political science and economics, said there aren’t any grounds for his impeachment.
“I would have to look and see what the validations are, but it’s something that will not be taken seriously by the Student Senate,” Mills said.
According to Mills, he heard about the possible bill through “the grapevine.”
“I’m worried any time people bring false accusations against someone whether inside or outside [of Student Government],” he said.
Mills said this is something that will cause Senate to lose credibility with students and administrators.
Sen. Scott Lassiter, a sophomore in political science, agreed.
“I wouldn’t vote to impeach him,” Lassiter said. “I haven’t seen that he’s done anything impeachable. It shouldn’t be a matter of whether you agree with someone’s policies. It should be whether or not a person is doing his job.”
And according to Lassiter, even those who don’t like the job Mills is doing have to admit he is working hard.
“I wish people in Student Government would spend as much time working for the betterment of the student body as they spend fighting each other,” he said.
Kate Luckadoo, executive chief of staff to Mills and a senior in communication, said the idea of the bill is ridiculous.
“There’s no reason for us to backlash at this point before we see the bill,” she said. “We don’t think there will be any value to the bill to make it worth our time for us to respond.”
She said if students see this as a waste of time, they will no longer have confidence in Student Government, “especially if the accusations are not viable to be brought up in a process toward impeachment.”
Mills said he would not compare The Pirate Captain’s presidency to his, though he thinks Piavis did what was right.
“He worked to the max of his ability, and that’s all you can ask,” Mills said.