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Dear Syracuse University graduate students,

An injustice is going on in your name and I am compelled to bring this to your attention. On Feb. 10, the Internal Vice President of the Graduate Student Organization sent out an email informing all senators of the commencement of impeachment proceedings against the President of the GSO, Yousr Dhaouadi. The Article of Impeachment singled out the opinion expressed by the GSO President as the basis for her impeachment. This impeachment process comes at a time when the GSO President is in her second and final term in office. In fact, her tenure-ship ends at the end of this Spring semester.

The GSO senate has voted to endorse attempts by some graduate students to unionize. During the debate on unionization, the GSO President — like most senators — expressed her opinion on the debate before the floor of the senate, in which she encouraged the union leaders to take time and effort to address concerns held by sections of the graduate student body on unionization.

It was purely her opinion, and she absolutely has every right as senator to express them. Sadly, some senators heckled, mocked and shouted at her while she made her points on the floor of the senate. And to my utter dismay, the chair of the senate, GSO’s Internal Vice President, did little to bring those senators who heckled and called the President “a liar” to order. In fact, at a point, I expressed my indignation at the failure of the chair to bring those senators to order. The fallout of that senate debate resulted in the surprise article of impeachment.

Such an approach goes against the fair due process system. When the Article of Impeachment was served to the GSO E-Board, the IVP called for a meeting which the IVP was to chair. The President acknowledged the invitation and had expressed her willingness to attend, except that she thought her vice, the IVP, should not chair the said meeting considering that the IVP is an interested party in this matter.

Article II Section 5 (f) of the GSO constitution clearly states: “[The Vice President of Internal Affairs shall] serve as the President with all powers and privileges therein during absence, infirmity, or incapacity of the President.” In other words, the IVP automatically steps into the GSO President role should the President be forced to resign. The IVP is therefore an interested party in this matter and should not preside over such a meeting, and it was within the President’s right to demand a fair hearing.

The least the GSO E-Board members could have done is choose a neutral person to chair the preliminary hearing. That was not granted to the President. Instead, the IVP sent out a late-hour email on Friday night, summoning senators to an emergency meeting to commence proceedings for the impeachment of the GSO President on Friday.

The GSO President has served this great body for two terms, and she is concluding her tenure by the end of this semester. At no point during her five years in the senate did any member of the Senate question her integrity, loyalty or commitment to the service of graduate students.

In fact, she dedicated her time, wisdom, expertise and resources to the service of this body for all these years. Her comments were to request that everyone be heard, and where there were concerns, that they be appropriately addressed. Prior to her statement, I referenced my colleagues in Newhouse who had genuine questions about unionization, and I urged the union leaders to widen their outreach. That is not too much to ask for. In fact, I signed a unionization card, and I co-sponsored the Senate Bill on Unionization. I am pro-union, but I also owe a responsibility to the people I represent in the Senate.

The standard practice is that senators are guaranteed the right of a parliamentary privilege. This privilege ensures that their view, opinion and comments made on the floor of the senate in support of a debate are protected. And, like all other senators, the President stated her opinion within the limits of the laws of the United States which guarantees her — as well as any other senator — the right to free speech. In fact, as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled: Erroneous statement is inevitable in free debate, that must be protected if the freedoms of expressions are to have the breathing space that they need to survive.

Assuming that the President erred in expressing her point of view on the debate, that error could not be the basis of her impeachment. Such action is tantamount to viewpoint discrimination, and the clear violation of the First Amendment. So far, the only basis cited for her impeachment is her comment on the floor of the senate during the debate on unionization. If this impeachment succeeds, it will create a deadly precedent and a chilling effect on senators’ willingness and ability to express their opinion during debate on the floor of the senate. Unless the GSO Senate is a higher institution than the Supreme Law that grants freedom of speech, it cannot censor a senator’s point of view on the floor of the senate.

I feel compelled to write this opinion piece in defense of democracy, in defense of the freedom of speech which is anchored in the constitution of this land. I write because our collective silence leads to the perpetration of injustice, and as noted by the great Martin Luther King: “An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

But most importantly, I speak because this article of impeachment is a clear threat to democracy and the marketplace of ideas on our campus. These ideas challenge us all to speak out and speak up — even in disagreement and division — to respect each other’s point of view, no matter how distasteful or offensive it might sound. This is the threat which we must all reject. No senator must have to feel attacked, discriminated against or suffer purely because their viewpoint differs from that of the majority.

Benjamin Tetteh is a University Senator and PhD student in the Newhouse School of Public Communications. He can be reached at Benjieluv.

Published on February 14, 2023 at 11:27 pm