Two senators call SGA president ‘not fit’ to lead, resign
One senator said he did not recognize Sullivan’s authority
Caroline O’Connor
January 29, 2019
In the first meeting of the semester, two senators of the University of Massachusetts Student Government Association resigned, citing frustrations with SGA President Timmy Sullivan.
The two senators, Arpit Jain and Diart Spahija, left the legislative body with a flurry of criticism for Sullivan’s methods of leadership.
A senator for the class of 2020 who has served for five semesters, Jain announced his resignation during the opening announcements of the meeting on Monday night.
In explaining his reasoning for his resignation, Jain placed blame on Sullivan, describing Sullivan as a “disruptor in the world of UMass politics with no regard to the [student body] he represents.”
“To start his term, President Sullivan could have been given the benefit of the doubt, but he threw that out the window when he decided to appoint some secretaries who had less experience with the roles than he did,” Jain said. “In the end, all but one was confirmed through the Senate.”
Additionally, Jain criticized Sullivan for what he described as staying “quiet” when “important issues” were discussed and for Sullivan speaking out of turn during a board of trustees meeting last semester, where Sullivan called the chair of the board Robert Manning a “liar” and declared a lack of faith in Manning’s leadership.
While Sullivan did not respond directly to any of Jain’s specific criticisms, he did encourage the members of the SGA to come talk to him if they had any concerns.
“I am open and available to talking to all students on campus, that’s my job, so I hope that we can clear up the issues that people may have,” Sullivan said.
Later in the meeting, Spahija decided to resign, for what he felt was a lack of a response to Jain’s criticisms.
“If you are not even willing to respond to what [Jain] said, then I resign along with him,” Spahija said.
“I do not recognize your authority because you are not fit to be president,” he added.
Following his resignation, Spahija left the room and the meeting continued.
The meeting also featured discussion and updates on a variety of programs the members of the SGA plan to pursue in the upcoming semester.
Chair of the Social Justice and Empowerment Committee Timothy Scalona discussed goals of making University Health Services and the Center for Counseling and Psychological Health more accessible, in terms of both time and money. Additionally, Scalona provided an overview of plans to fight racial injustice on campus.
“[SOJEC] is looking to continue work with other related student and campus groups on creating a more racially just campus, as to prevention of and response to hate crimes and trying to get [Residential Life] to better define the distinction between ‘biased incident’ and ‘hate crime,’” Scalona said.
Additionally, Attorney General Ilina Shah discussed how she plans to work on fighting sexual assault in Greek life through starting a conversation on the issue.
“Based on a lot of things that I have heard from fellow students, just as a representative on campus, a lot of issues still persist right now, and I think it’s all about having the conversation of how we can make things even better,” Shah said.
Speaker Ryan Mahan also discussed the upcoming SGA elections. Nominations are set to begin on Feb. 4 and continue until Feb. 11, and a president and trustee debate will be held on Feb. 18. Voting will take place from Feb. 19 to Feb. 21.
Editor’s Note: Timothy Scalona is a Collegian columnist.
Will Mallas can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @willmallas.
Johnny Wu • Feb 2, 2019 at 11:03 pm
These people who resigned are literally so dumb and overdramatic. The SGA is not that important. Glad Timmy actually supports issues that matter. (Social justice, fees).
#johnnyout
Pitz • Jan 30, 2019 at 10:14 am
I am aghast at this unfortunate turn of events, and wish to extend my well wishes to the administration of our beloved President Sullivan. Bereft of the rock that was his partner, his heroic quest to bring a new progressive energy to this campus has suffered its latest setback, in the form of a cowardly betrayal by two (now former) senators. Shame on them! How dare they sully his good name with such slander! To attack him and his methods is to attack all of us who so energetically fought against the powers that be in order to propel him to this illustrious post, so he might take the fight to the hearts of our corrupt, bloated system. Those who still now undermine him, are simply obstacles in the way of the greater good, and will be remembered on the wrong side of history. Their privilege, their intolerance, or worse, their internalized racism and self-hatred, sour them to the love and friendship extended to them like the proverbial olive branch. But far greater evil is done by those who stand by and do nothing, those who refuse to answer the clarion call and defend our friend and leader. They are guilty of the worst of performative allyship, of refusal to act, and evil prospers when such inaction stands. It is disgusting that we weigh a few missteps, some harsh truths, or worse, some misplaced dollars as more important than the noble task of a truly radical future for the campus. Unlike so many others, I will not be swayed. I stand by MY president, as he and his administration stood by me when I was facing a sordid trial previously. I urge everyone to do the same, and ensure that the Sullivan administration continues in power, by any means necessary. I also congratulate Senator Cordero on his deserved upcoming promotion to Vice President. His is a meteoric rise, from a humble elections commissioner to the Senate, and now to higher power. In him I see hope for our revolution, and our future. Despite the struggles of the ignorant and malicious, we will be victorious! ✊✊✊
Pitz Fucci • Jan 30, 2019 at 10:13 am
I stand by MY president, as he and his administration stood by me when I was facing a sordid trial previously. I urge everyone to do the same, and ensure that the Sullivan administration continues in power, by any means necessary. I also congratulate Senator Cordero on his deserved upcoming promotion to Vice President. His is a meteoric rise, from a humble elections commissioner to the Senate, and now to higher power. In him I see hope for our revolution, and our future. Despite the struggles of the ignorant and malicious, we will be victorious! ✊✊✊
Melissa • Jan 29, 2019 at 6:32 pm
Based on this and everything else I’ve heard, it looks like the other Tim should have been elected last Spring.
Jesus Lover • Jan 29, 2019 at 4:29 pm
The SGA needs more Jesus.
Kobe • Jan 29, 2019 at 2:10 pm
Timmy is a liability and soft.
Chris • Jan 29, 2019 at 11:34 am
His administration was a disaster from the get go. Remember when he was too incompetent to get on the right bus to Boston for a UMass even so instead had the SGA pay for a $150+ Uber?
His cabinet is all cronies with no experience.
Heard they were running out of money last year so they asked people to not fill in their timesheets while they continued to keep paying themselves. The entitlement. SMH.
Nat had the right idea to resign and get out of there. Hopefully Timmy will get some sense and do the same