In the midst of elections and midterms exams, the Student Government Association came out in its weekly meeting to decide what has been a lingering motion for the past few weeks.

Prior to the SGA Senate body meeting of Feb. 23, the Ways and Means Committee held an informal gathering to briefly discuss whether or not to support the Collegiate Readership Program, which looks to encourage relationships between colleges and universities and their local newspapers. Sen.Bill Cody, a member of the committee, and Sen. Lindsey Vitale, also a committee member, got into a discussion about the program which ended with Vitale in tears.

Before the senate was called to order, Speaker of the House Modesto Montero asked Cody to leave, on the grounds the he made a fellow senator feel unsafe, unwelcome and uncomfortable, because he was allegedly intoxicated. Cody and other SGA members had spent the afternoon drinking at the Graduate Lounge located in the Campus Center.

After Cody’s refusal to leave,  Montero called the University of Massachusetts Police Department (UMPD) to have him escorted out of the meeting. A UMPD police officer escorted the alleged inebriated senator from the meeting, and the meeting proceeded as normal.

Last week’s meeting ended with Chair of the Ways and Means Committee Josh Davidson motioning to impeach Cody, claiming that he had repeatedly attended senate and committee meetings inebriated and had proved to be a difficult and destructive force in these meetings.

In this week’s meeting, a special order was sponsored by the Rules and Ethics subcommittee motioning to expel Cody from the senate.

The Rules and Ethics subcommittee, as represented by Sen. Nick Barton, stated that Cody had been ejected from previous meetings for disorderly conduct. After he allegedly verbally accosed Vitale and was subsequently banished from the Feb.23 meeting, Cody left Montero a voicemail that contained expletives. These incidents were the evidence that the Rules and Ethics subcommittee considered when making the case against Cody.

Barton last night addressed Cody and made clear that, “We really feel that this is an unfortunate incident, but we see no other option but expulsion. We want to make sure that we do not condemn Bill Cody as a bad person, but find that he can no longer work in the senator.”

Cody then was allotted 20 minutes to make his case. With a perhaps smirk-like grin on his face and a Mountain Dew can in his hand, Cody took to the podium.

He stated that neither he nor Vitale had been consulted by the Rules and Ethics Subcommittee in regards to the incident.

Cody said that Jo-Ann Vanin, the associate chancellor for student affairs and the dean of students, did not find that they could convict him on enough evidence that he had violated any student policies.

In his account, Cody made it clear that the UMPD officer who escorted him out of the meeting made no attempt to actually confirm whether or not he was drunk. “He did give me a breathalyzer, he did not put me into protective custody, he walked me to the bus stop and let me go home,” Cody recounted.

“I talk to people in my own personal way. I don’t know how she felt scared or threatened,” Cody said about Vitale. “It is unfortunate that she felt that way. I apologize that she felt that way. I wish she could say how she felt threatened.

“I was only frustrated with her because I felt that she had not given enough attention to the matter that was at hand,” Cody said, in an attempt it clear that he had no personal hatred or angst against Vitale.

Cody ended his account saying: “I am glad we get this opportunity. It is up to you senators to decide the outcome.”

“If this was unimportant to me, I would just resign. Or I would stop showing up,” Cody added. “I care about this organization and I feel that I have brought a lot to it.”

Following Cody’s presentation, eight minutes were given to sides to make a case in favor of impeaching Cody or vice versa.

Sen. Matt Reilly was the first of four senators to plead against the expulsion. “There is simply not enough evidence and there is a lot of ambiguity. It is unfair to make assumptions,” explained Reilly. “Some people are more susceptible to crying, but crying is not evidence that a terrible act was committed.”

“I was at the Grad Lounge that day with Bill. We each had three or four beers, and then came to the SGA and RSO mixer and ate some pizza. I was confident that we were both sober by the time of the senate meeting,” said Andrew Prowten, the SGA’s secretary of outreach.

When the eight minutes was up, eight minutes was then given to the opposing side.

An enraged Montero was the first to speak in favor of impeaching Cody.

“This is not an isolated incident. It is not even about the intoxication at this point. This is about how he attacked Lindsey, and the fact that he made another senator uncomfortable, and I will not have that in my senate,” Montero shouted.

Through his anger, Montero personally complimented Cody, saying, “You are a passionate and hard-working individual, I will never take that away from you.”

Vitale also spoke for the impeachment of Cody. “I am upset that he humiliated me in front of other RSO’s. I was mad that he said that I didn’t do anything for the senate and didn’t take it seriously.”

In a roll call vote, it was decided that the special order passed and Cody was impeached, to which he reacted with elongated “boo.”

SGA President Brandon Tower commented, “This was a legislative matter and the senate has the right to determine their own membership.”

Following the decision Davidson said: “Unfortunately the situation had to happen. I feel the senate made the right decision; we have high standards for our members and his presence was disrupting the budget allocation process which is the most important thing that the SGA actually controls.”

“I wish he had resigned or he had moved to another committee. I did not want to impeach him, but the committee could not go on with him there,” said Vitale. “This was not a personal matter; it was only for the committee. We have 180 budgets; we need to buckle down without distractions.”

The SGA will decide it new president and trustee Thursday night. The SGA‘s next meeting is scheduled for March 23.

Ashley Berger can be reached at [email protected].