Students petition to oust Taylor

Nearly three times the amount of students required to draft legislation to impeach a student government association president has been drawn.
A bill, which will be proposed to the Student Senate tonight in the Lakefront Room of the Smith-Smith Memorial Union at 6 p.m., has been authored by students who claim that President Taylor has “publicly intimidated” Southern staff, and broken both constitutional and bylaw rules. It must be signed by a member of the Senate in order to be heard during the regular session tonight.
“I’m not a senator, I have no official position in SGA, however, article 3, of the Bylaws, section 16 state that any student, with a minimum of 10 student IDs and printed names, can submit a bill before the Senate floor,” said James Davis, a junior political science major from Baton Rouge.
“The students are tired,” Davis said. “The students have decided that Mr. Taylor’s actions are, of course, contrary to the Student Code of Ethics. Mr. Taylor’s actions are contrary to the Code of Conduct, and the students are tired of it.”
The Bylaws of the Student Government Association, article 3, section 16 states, “By petition of no less than 10 undergraduate students, certified by signature, printed name, and University issued student identification number, a resolution or bill may be presented on the floor of the Senate for consideration, subject to a seconding motion by a Senator.”
Stasha Rhodes, SGA vice president, who was unable to comment on bills that have not reached the Senate floor, as it is deemed unethical, confirmed a student’s right to due process.
“Students do have the right to bring a bill before the Senate with SU IDs. The Senate is allowed to prevent it.”
Steven Brown, a senior criminal justice major from Shreveport, signed the petition because he believes President Taylor lacks humility.
“If you’re going to run 7,000 plus students, you must first be humble at all times. We need a president who is willing to go the distance,” said Brown. “It states that the president should be ‘truthful’ at all times. If he’s lied about small things, what else will he lie about?”
Calls to Taylor were not immediately returned.