The A.S. commissioner of athletic relations will remain an elected position after the failure of a constitutional amendment intended to make the office appointed by the A.S. President and confirmed by the senate.
An open roll-call vote on the item ended on Feb. 6 with a vote of 16-7-0. As a constitutional amendment, the legislation required three-fourths of the senators’ approval to pass.
Commissioner of Athletic Relations Jordan Cross, who sponsored the amendment, was disappointed that it failed to win approval.
“”It’s somewhat disappointing,”” Cross said. “”It saddens me to see the lack of foresight that members of A.S. [Council] seem to have.””
Cross and other councilmembers, like Thurgood Marshall College Sophomore Senator Kate Pillon, argued that since commissioners perform specific duties, they should be appointed to ensure that the most qualified individual will hold the post.
“”Commissioners don’t really act as representatives of the students ó they do a job, they do a service, they perform a task for the students,”” Pillon said. “”To best serve the students, the A.S. [Council] should appoint commissioners because we’ll get the best and most qualified person in that position.””
Councilmembers who opposed the change in the selection method pointed to a Spring 2003 referendum that asked students to approve making all the commissioners appointed. The amendment failed with 51 percent of voters casting “”no”” ballots and 28 percent voting “”yes.””
John Muir College Sophomore Senator Nam Bui voted against appointing the commissioner of athletics because of last year’s referendum.
“”The students spoke just last year,”” Bui said. “”I value the voice of the students.””
Supporters of the legislation, however, called the referendum biased and pointed to a lack of voter education surrounding the ballot question.
“”I don’t think there was any debate or discussion on the referendum itself,”” Eleanor Roosevelt College Sophomore Senator Max Harrington said. “”There was no official ëyes’ campaign; there was no official ëno’ campaign.””
Harrington was the only senator to change his vote from “”no”” to “”yes”” during the time period of the open roll-call vote.
Although last year’s referendum was initially his reason for opposing the legislation, Harrington said that he later became convinced that the referendum was poorly advertised and that it did not clearly ask the students if they supported changing only the commissioner of athletics to an appointed position.
On Jan. 21, the A.S. Council narrowly approved making the commissioner of student advocacy an appointed position. Some opponents of the legislation saw the attempt to change the commissioner of athletics to an appointed position as part of a larger trend in shifting to appointed commissioners.
“”If athletics was the one to go, in terms of being appointed, the other ones would go as well,”” Bui said. “”It would be a domino effect.””
Thurgood Marshall College Freshman Senator Alan Haimowitz expressed that an election discourages qualified people from running for commissioner positions.
“”There are lots of really qualified people who don’t … want to go through the political process,”” Haimowitz said. “”If [commissioners] are elected, you’re wiping out a huge group of people who want to apply.””
After the disqualification of the Students First! slate from last year’s A.S. elections, many commissioner positions were left with no eligible candidate and were appointed by the current council.
ERC Senior Senator Jordan Rosenfeld pointed to the strength of this year’s commissioners as reason to support appointing commissioners.
“”This year, most of the commissioners were appointed,”” Rosenfeld said. “”If you speak to people who are familiar with the history of [the] A.S. [Council], they will tell you that this year’s commissioners have been the strongest and most effective that A.S. [Council] has ever had.””
Pillon hopes that Thurgood Marshall College Council will pass the legislation independently of the A.S. Council as a sign of support for the appointment of commissioners.
“”I hope that Marshall takes a stand on this and makes a statement,”” Pillon said. “”Not only would it be symbolic, it would also technically be an official ratification.””
Under another constitutional amendment that was approved by the A.S. Council on Feb. 6, sponsors of constitutional amendments may seek ratification by the college councils before A.S. Council even approves the item.
“”At some point, you have to be willing to stand up and say this may not be what everyone wants, but this is the best thing for our A.S. [Council], this is the best thing for our athletics department, and this is the best thing for the university,”” Cross said. “”And I didn’t feel like our senate was willing to make a stand like that.””