News

SGA senators suspended

SGA president Rachel Martin suspended three senators who left a March 26 meeting to prevent a vote on creating a freshman council.

Their absence left the council unable to vote because it lacked the required quorum.

Senators Michael Stooksbury, who represents transfer students, Aaron Sams, a senator for the College of Engineering and Nicholas Lawson, who is not listed on the SGA website, remain suspended until they formally apologize to the entire senate.

Martin announced the suspensions in an email sent to the association members.

In the email, she said the three cannot attend the next senate meeting.

“We, as an organization, will no longer accept the hostile and selfish environment that has been created,” Martin said.

After Sams left the meeting he tweeted the following message:

“Tonight I walked out of @tntech_sga to push the absence of quorum, due to a bill that severally [sic] disenfranchise the freshman constituents by changing by the freshman class from having approximately 15 senators to it being delegated to the “kids” table with 4 voting seats.”

He replied to his own tweet, creating a thread that said, “TLDR: I walky outy so they could no votey.”

Stooksbury retweeted Sams’ comments.

Earlier this year, Stooksbury and Sams admitted leaking a controversial document that resulted in the resignation of another member.

The bill establishing a freshman council is scheduled to be implemented this fall and gives freshman four votes on the senate floor.