Connor Clegg Cleared of Impeachment Charges

By Emily Martin
News Reporter

Student Body President Connor Clegg was found not guilty of the impeachment charges held against him last night, so he will continue to serve as president until president-elect Brooklyn Boering is sworn into office.

The Student Government Supreme Court listened to both the complainants and the accused side of the story before deliberating and coming to the decision.

The complainants argued that Clegg violated the Student Government Code in multiple ways. There were six Articles of Impeachment presented to the Supreme Court. The charges focused on Clegg’s use of the student government twitter account in November to release a statement calling for the University Star to be defunded.

Another area of concern was the fact that former student president, Andrew Homann, had his email attached to an official statement released by Clegg where he called for the defunding of The Star. Clegg argued that Homann was part of his cabinet as the Special Advisor to the President.

Clegg said that he was just trying to voice the opinions of the students. He knew that he could not please everybody, but he believed that he was voicing the concerns of the student majority.

After the Court’s ruling, Clegg praised the Court’s decision, saying he “was on the right side of this issue and I never committed any violation of the code of ethics or the Constitution.”

Anthony Gallardo, Representative for The College of Fine Arts and Communication, said that the Justices asked good questions and were very critical of certain things.

“In terms of their decision, of course I was a little upset. I’m more disappointed in the decision that they didn’t choose to convict of lesser charges even if he was elected not guilty,” Gallardo said.

Gallardo said that they were hopeful the evidence would speak louder volumes than the bias within the court system.

Claudia Gasponi, student body senator representing University College, says the Court was biased, but she’s not sure if she’s surprised.

“So much of Conner’s defense was misinformation or shed light to him being in the wrong,” Gasponi said.

Gasponi says that while the justice system didn’t find any wrongdoing, in the court of public opinion no one sees Clegg as the president.

Senator Alexander Molina is hoping that the new administration will change the culture on campus.

“It’s up to this new administration, the Boering-Beccera campaign, to do something about it and hopefully change that culture,” said Molina. “It’s up to this new upcoming administration when they take office to actually listen to students and be an actual voice for the student body.”

Clegg only has about five weeks left in office before President-Elect Boering and Vice President-Elect Ruben Becerra take office.

Featured image by Marina Bustillo-Mendoza.