The end ofthe fall 2004 semester left the judicial branch of the Southern UniversityStudent Government Association with lingering questions pertaining to thecontroversial case involving the termination of Kellee Craig, former SGA chiefof staff and current SGA senator.
Craig, whofelt she had been wrongfully terminated, brought the case before the studentsenate on Nov. 30, 2004.The senate found that Monroe was in violation of theSGA constitution and sent the matter to the judicial branch for review.
“I feelthat a person won’t really learn their lesson until you hit them where it hurts– and usually that’s in their pockets,” Craig said.
When thecase was brought before the student court, Craig requested that if Monroe wasfound guilty of violating the constitution, his stipend would be temporarilysuspended as a form of discipline for violating the constitution.
“We werenot called upon to take away his stipend or anything else; we do not have thepower to take those measures,” said Quilland Johnson, chief justice of thestudent court. “We were called to review the situation according to theconstitution and that’s what we did.”
Uponcompletion of their deliberations, the justices of the student court reached aconclusion. In a written statement addressing both Monroe’s alleged breech ofarticle III section VII and his alleged violation of the proper protocoloutlined in the documents governing the executive cabinet, Johnson wrote;
Due toour vigilant analysis of Article III Section VIII, removal of Staff Member, ofthe bylaws for the Southern University A&M College, which states, any staffmember appointed by the president may be dismissed by the president with propernotification of the student senate.
We thejudicial committee, find that President Monroe did not in fact breech articleIII section VIII. Removal of Staff Member, based on the fact that the bylawsgive no specific direction or time frame as to who should properly notify thestudent senate.
Propernotification to the student senate was given by Miss Kellee Craig with herformal letter presented and submitted to the student senate on the November 30,2004 student Senate’s meeting. We the judicial committee find that the studentsenate was in fact notified of Miss Craig’s termination.
Due tothe fact that the Constitution of the Student Government Association Article V.Section III letter A. states the duties and powers of the Student GovernmentAssociation President are “To execute all laws enacted by the student senate.”Henceforth, these polices and procedures were indeed not enacted by the StudentSenate which prohibited President Monroe the authority to execute these laws.
Withthat in mind and the fact that there was no signature of approval, thesepolicies and procedures became null and void; as a result they cannot be setforth as an official Executive Order.
The studentcourt concluded that Monroe did not breech the constitution or bylaws and foundthat Craig should not be reinstated unless done so by Monroe.
Juniorjustice Makeysha Montgomery felt the decision was just according to theconstitution and bylaws, however, morally, she believes Monroe was wrong.
“I feelthat it was a just decision,” Montgomery said. “Morally, I believe Arthur waswrong but we called the shots by the constitution and bylaws. As justices wecannot go by what we feel, we must go by the constitution and bylaws.”
Monroeexpressed his satisfaction with the decision and his feelings that thesituation has not affected progress.
“I feltthat they made the right decision,” Monroe said, “I never felt that I had doneany wrong. I felt that I had done everything by the letter of the law accordingto the constitution. I feel that noneof that has hindered the progress of the SGA.”
