In a closed-session meeting last week, the John Muir College Council impeached Junior Senator Aida Kuzucan for poor attendance, though some A.S. councilmembers have expressed dissatisfaction with the decision.
The MCC’s policy dictates that two unexcused absences from council meetings warrants an automatic closed-session impeachment hearing. According to MCC Commissioner of Public Relations Betty Kuo, Kuzucan had three and a half college council absences, which was the official reason for the hearing.
The MCC bylaws state that absence excuses are at the “discretion of the chair.”” However, Kuzucan said that two of her absences were legitimate because they were due to a family emergency and a religious holiday.
“It seems as though many in her council have been meaning to impeach Aida for a long time, and they were just waiting for an excuse,”” Sixth College Sophomore Senator John Cressey stated in an e-mail.
While one of the possible courses of action in a closed-session meeting is impeachment, lesser punishments such as probation can also be administered, MCC Chair Carissa Kreuger said. However, the decision was up to the discretion of the college council, over two-thirds of which ultimately decided to impeach Kuzucan.
Some A.S. councilmembers, such as Muir Senior Senator Matthew Bright, said they would have preferred an option other than impeachment.
Kuzucan was elected last spring as Muir junior senator, and as such has served as a liaison between MCC and the A.S. Council. However, because colleges have autonomy, members of the A.S. Council were not invited to take part in the impeachment hearing.
“I think it’s clear that A.S. supports [Kuzucan] … and is not in support of what MCC has done,”” A.S. President Harry Khanna said.
After her impeachment, Kuzucan collected signatures to petition MCC to reverse the decision and spoke during the Nov. 16 A.S. meeting. Several Muir and A.S. councilmembers also took the floor on her behalf.
Muir Web Intern Arturo Ruvalcaba, an active member of MCC, spoke out against the decision, citing previous impeachment hearings and attendance violations.
“I think [Kuzucan] was impeached for obvious reasons, those which include the chair, vice chair and several other members’ personal issues about [Kuzucan],”” Ruvalcaba stated in an e-mail. “I have seen four or five impeachment hearings and they have all ended in probationary periods being granted. … The thing about it is that everyone knows that Carissa Kreuger hates Aida Kuzucan.””
Kreuger said that her decision was not made on a personal basis, and added that, as chair, she did not have a vote on the issue.
“It was not a personal decision, attack or affront in any manner,”” Kreuger said. “I put forth the facts to the council as I had them.””
Parliamentary procedure dictates that the impeachment cannot be reversed; however, MCC Vice Chair and interim Junior Senator Dave Payne said that if MCC chose to suspend the bylaws, Kuzucan could reapply for her old position.
After the public input period during the council’s meeting, MCC discussed this possibility of suspending the bylaws for Kuzucan, but voted against it. MCC will review the application and appoint a new junior senator as soon as possible.
