Several Student Union Treasury representatives are furious in the wake of an effective housecleaning of the group’s executive leadership Tuesday night, following the resignations of key executives and an unannounced midterm election.

Although the election’s proceedings were technically legal, some of the candidates were made aware of the upcoming election, while others were not.

“It was apparent to me that some people were informed that elections would be called, whereas others had no clue that it was coming,” said Leslie Forrest, former co-chair of the Budget Committee, who left the meeting in protest following the call for elections.

As a result of the elections, Harsh Agarwal assumed the office of secretary of the Treasury, replacing Judson Clark, who declined to run due to his recent rise to Beta Theta Pi’s presidency. Budget Committee co-chair Rafael Walker lost his re-election bid to Treasury Representative Tommy Honton, who now chairs the committee with Tyler Greene. Forrest resigned before the elections, a decision she had made the preceding week.

Treasury elections proceed unannounced

The controversy over the elections stems from a perceived power play on the part of Student Union (SU) leadership to oust Walker, former co-chair of the Budget Committee, and fill executive positions with members of a certain group of insiders.

At the general Treasury meeting, Agarwal resigned from his position as Student Groups Activities Committee (SGAC) co-chair, prompting Honton to call for open elections. Once that motion was seconded, all executive seats were up for contest. This process, though not mentioned in the SU Constitution, is, according to Agarwal, detailed in Robert’s Rules of Order.

“As I understand, [a Treasury representative] has the right to call for an election as long as the motion is seconded,” said Andrew Benard, former SU election commissioner. “Unless there’s an objection, you don’t necessarily have to put [the election proposal] to a [general] vote.”

Walker was asked to consent to the election, which he did.

“I asked Rafael, ‘Do you need more time? Take whatever you need,’” said Agarwal. “And he specifically said he was okay with it.”

Forrest noted that Walker said more than a simple “okay.”

“Rafael said he was comfortable but made clear that he had no idea the elections were coming up and that he hadn’t prepared for an election setting,” she said.

Plans were already in the works to have an election for the organization’s leadership before Tuesday’s Treasury meeting. Honton had spoken with Treasury Representative hannah draper after an emergency committee meeting Monday night regarding his personal plans to call a midterm election. Draper had served with Forrest and Walker on the Budget Committee.

“Tommy Honton.told me on Monday night that he and Tyler Greene were going to be challenging Rafael Walker for the position of Budget Committee Chair because Tyler refused to work with Rafael,” said draper. “I was under the impression that Tommy would have the balls to tell Rafael to his face.”

Walker, who was unavailable for comment, was apparently unaware that any election was about to take place.

“I feel very bad about this,” said draper. “I’ve lost a lot of respect for [Honton].”

Agarwal assumes new role as speaker

Agarwal, the newly elected speaker of Treasury, emphasized different points of his election. Unlike Walker, he had been informed of the plan for an election before the Tuesday night meeting.

“I knew that I was resigning and that we needed to hold elections for new SGAC leadership,” he said. “I knew that Judson was stepping down.”

In addition, Agarwal had no complaints about Tuesday’s proceedings, saying that Honton and Greene “have been on Budget Committee for two years and they have seen how Budget Committee functions. If they thought that they wanted to be leaders, [they are allowed] to do it.”

“This was not an attack on the leadership,” said Agarwal. “It was more about Budget Committee, its future, its goals, how it can be a resource for student groups.

Clark, whose position Agarwal will be taking over, did not respond to repeated calls for comment.

Despite the fallout from Tuesday’s meeting, Agarwal praised the former co-chairs for their work.

“Leslie and Rafael have done an incredible job,” he said, “They have done the committee very well.”

But Agarwal believes that the emphasis should not be on the Treasury’s past.

“A lot of [the work] this semester is going to be about the future,” he said. “A lot of the members have goals. Let’s talk about goals. Let’s talk about the future, let’s talk about student groups. The Treasury is about good discussions.”

Nevertheless, he added “next semester is going to be a difficult semester for Treasury.”

Treasury representatives left discontented

According to draper, Walker has run into problems with SU executives long before the events of Tuesday night.

“For some reason, the clique cannot stand Rafael,” said draper. “They clearly had an agenda going at all the elections.”

Draper identified the “SU clique” as SU President David Ader, SU Treasuer Ed Banti, former Speaker of the Treasury Clark, and now Agarwal. She said the antagonism between Walker and “SU clique” was paradigmatic of the general relationship between the executives and the Budget Committee.

“Over the past three semesters, the only time SU executives outside of the treasurers showed up to the meetings was when they wanted to change things. Whenever they showed up we knew there would be some big argument between the ‘SU clique’ and the rest of us,” said draper.

Draper also noted that Banti has been significantly less involved with the Budget Committee than his predecessors.

“I just wrapped up my fifth semester on Budget Committee,” she said. “Ed hardly ever shows up to meetings; he is [at] less than half.”

Draper also sees the antagonism manifested at the general Treasury meetings, particularly when the votes come in.

“It’s been my experience at the Treasury that there are a few outspoken people in the voting body who will often oppose the executives, and the rest of Treasury will fall in line [with the executives] like little ducklings. That’s what happened last night,” she said.

Forrest echoed similar sentiments, and cited them as reasons for her resignation.

“I feel like there’s a small group of people who actually speak up in Treasury, and the other treasurers are swayed to go with that opinion,” she said. “Should one have a dissenting voice, then that is usually overturned by a group of people who do not necessarily express their own opinion but follow the opinion of others.”

Different visions for a new semester

While Forrest looked toward Treasury’s past, Agarwal focused on the coming semester.

“There is something to be said about goals and future and vision, and that’s what I want to focus on,” said Agarwal. “I’m very excited. There is so much potential to accomplish the goals that the leaders have set out.”

Draper, along with Forrest, feels differently. On Wednesday, draper said, “This is the most insulting thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m almost certainly going to be resigning from Budget Committee tomorrow in protest.”

She followed through with the resignation yesterday.

“I understand that what few bridges I had left with SU have just been burned, and that’s fine,” she said.

Forrest expressed similar feelings, and said that she saw no worth in an effort to try to effect change within the Treasury.

“I have no hope that [a complaint] would get anywhere,” said Forrest. “After being in Treasury for two years, I think that it would be a lot of hassle for me to go through to complain. It would be more work than I needed to do to improve a body that I have lost hope in.”

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