USG constitution review committee fails to receive approval, concerns about potential conflict of interest

Emma Kolick
Fri, 23 Sep 2022 00:29:14 +0000
Campus, Instagram Page, News, 2/3 approval, biased, Buckeyes, CBRC, conflict of interest, Constitution ByLaw Review Committee, Derek Moore, Emma Patterson, failed resolution, Jake Shepard, legislation, nominations, ohio state, undergraduate student government, usg

Ohio State Undergraduate Student Government met Wednesday night intending to create the Constitution ByLaw Review Committee (CBRC); however, the resolution failed due to conflict of interest with the initial legislation. Credit: Zachary Rilley | Photo Editor

The Undergraduate Student Government failed to pass a resolution to reinstate the Constitution ByLaw Review Committee during its General Assembly meeting Wednesday.??

Derek Moore, a fourth-year in information systems and USG vice president, said the CBRC is formed every five years to review the organization’s constitution and make adjustments to clarify specific sections. Unlike other years, the organization failed to pass the resolution due concerns that one of the seven nominee’s aid in drafting the document might have influenced his nomination.??

This resolution was expected to pass, but the General Assembly learned one of the nominees, Jake Shepard — a fourth-year in criminology and criminal justice and philosophy, politics and economics — helped write some of the rough drafts. This was seen by members as an “unfair advantage” during the nomination process, USG Parliamentarian Emma Patterson said.?

Patterson said no other nominees had the privilege of writing the legislation.?

“My general concern is, in no other nomination process does the nominee get to also work on the resolution that presents them to the floor,” Patterson, a third-year in political science, said.?

Shepherd, a senior counselor member, said his position allows him to engage in clerical tasks for which the executive board does not have time, so he said Moore asked for his assistance in completing the legislation. Shepherd said he wrote initial rough drafts of the resolution, sending his work to Moore for feedback and then adjusted his writing accordingly.?

“Basically the entire resolution is copy and paste from the constitution, with a little bit of commentary. I did a couple drafts, and Derek put his final touch on it,” Shepherd said. “The way I look at my role as senior counselor is really doing stuff exec needs me to.”?

Moore said he understood why members were concerned about a potential conflict of interest, but he remained objective in his selection of Shepherd to serve on the committee.?

“I wanted to find people who were interested in protecting the constitution and adjusting it to better advocate for students,” Moore said. “I consider myself a very non-biased person. When I asked Jake for advice, I was able to see where his mindset was in approaching very large conflicts, and he was always able to provide very logical and non-biased approaches to addressing issues.”?

In the vote asking members to create the commission and confirm all the nominees, the resolution failed to meet the required 2/3 approval from the General Assembly, with only eight individuals voting in favor of the legislation.?