At the Wednesday, Nov. 29 senate meeting, A.S. President George Chi Ioi Lo faced his impeachment hearing and vote. After two hours of presentations, public comments, and questioning, the A.S. Senate voted to retain Lo as president in a 19-14 decision with no one abstaining. In order for the vote to have passed, 22 senators needed to vote in favor of impeachment.
The meeting was attended by several student groups who co-authored the Article of Impeachment agenda item: Students for Justice in Palestine, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanola de Aztlan, Groundworks Bookstore, the Ethnic Studies Undergraduate Community, and the Mixed Student Union.
Lo intended to hold a special presentation defending himself against the article of impeachment, but it was moved behind the vote on the agenda to devote more space to student speakers. During discussion, several senators yielded their speaking time to allow Lo the opportunity to clarify the situations represented in the article and address the accusations.
Lo said that he hopes to put the impeachment process behind him.
“I was very happy to retain the seat. I will continue to do advocacy outreach. Even though I was under the impeachment process, my work never stopped,” Lo said, referring to advocacy he has done in housing, transportation, and other fields. “I hope that after this impeachment, we can continue to foster an inclusive campus and if any senators have concerns, I am happy to talk to them.”
Since the vote has failed, the student groups intend to pursue a second route through the Judicial Board to recall Lo. They plan to re-file a recall petition which the J-Board must approve. Their re-file document, which is essentially the same as their Article of Impeachment, lists six grievances, the first two of which were already ruled as valid reasons for recall by the J-Board in the first iteration of the petition.
If the SJP recall re-file is approved, the groups must collect a certain amount of signatures from the student body supporting Lo’s recall in a two-week timeframe in order for the process to move forward. In response to the possible re-file, Lo says he believes the student body will exercise their critical judgment in choosing whether to sign a theoretical recall petition.
“I totally deny all of those allegations and I do have evidence and proof,” Lo said. “I hope that students will come open-minded, trying to listen to both sides.”
The J-Board has the final sign-off on all impeachment and recall inquiries, and currently seats two out of its seven required members. Lo has control over appointing new J-Board members in his capacity as president. At the same meeting, two new J-Board members, Selena-Marie Espinoza and Ansh Tripathi were voted in by the senate in action items brought forth by Lo. Espinoza’s appointment passed in a 12-3-10 vote and Tripathi’s appointment passed in a 9-2-14 vote with 25 votes total collected for each decision.
The original two judges were appointed by Lo’s predecessor, Sky Yang, in March 2023 and have the initials E.W. and H.S.. J-Board applications opened before the impeachment process began. They have since closed and are currently under review by the Office of the President. Lo told The Guardian that he intends to appoint two more members at the Week 10 senate meeting and fill the last vacancy after he has conducted due diligence.
