UOSA legislation to cut greek council presidents' pay vetoed

Student legislation that would have cut the pay to greek council presidents was vetoed by the UOSA Student President due to lack of discussion and no requirements to find new funding for the positions.

UOSA President Joe Sangirardi vetoed the legislation Wednesday and the vetoed bill will be sent back to Undergraduate Student Congress and Graduate Student Senate. The vetoed legislation can be overruled with a 2/3 majority vote in both Student Congress and Senate, according to the UOSA Code Annotated.

The legislation cut payment for these student positions without presenting any alternatives of finding a new way to pay those students, Sangirardi said. The veto came after an hour and a half meeting between the bill’s author, management information systems junior Andrew Carlough, and representatives of the greek council presidents.

“I don’t think it was discussed appropriately,” he said.

If Sangirardi’s veto holds, alternative legislation will be presented to both Student Congress and Senate that will cut the greek council presidents’ pay as well as the Housing Center Student Association and will detail requirements of UOSA officials to help the president find alternative funding from other entities. The pay cut is contingent on student government finding new sources of funding for these positions, Sangirardi said.

The alternative legislation also will require the four greek council positions and the HCSA to meet in bimonthly meetings between the four greek council presidents and HCSA. It also will require the organizations to send ambassadors to each other so the groups better understand each others roles, Sangirardi said.

“Everyone is going to wind up happy at the end of the day,” Sangirardi said.

Carlough authored the bill and presented it to Student Congress on Oct. 9. The legislation was written to highlight the issue of the greek presidents being paid student activity fees without any guidelines governing the presidents’ relationships to the greater student community, Carlough said.

The bill passed with 16 yes votes to 12 no votes after two greek council presidents defended their pay. Panhellenic Council President Emily Buss said the activities of the greek community benefit all students, not just greeks.

“We often cosponsor events with other groups on campus,” Buss said during the Oct. 9 meeting. “And much of the funding for those events and for those activities comes from greek organizations.”

Student Congress Rep. Eli Potts was a supporter of the bill to cut the greek council leaders’ pay. During the Oct. 9 meeting he said student activity fees should not be paying the salaries of student leaders that are not accountable to students.

“As chief of staff I answered to you guys last year and every position on campus answers to the student body,” Potts said during the meeting. “Except these positions that we are trying to eliminate the pay for tonight.”

Interfraternity President Nick Coffey said the meeting with Sangirardi went well and he complimented Sangirardi’s efforts to find a compromise between Carlough’s legislation and the greek council presidents.

“It was our belief that the bill was wholly discriminatory against the greek system...” Coffey said in an email.

The intent behind the legislation was not malicious, Carlough said. It was purely for highlighting concerns on having these president positions funded by student activity fees, he said. Carlough supported the decision to veto the legislation and help write up an alternative.

The vetoed legislation — if Sangirardi’s veto is upheld — should be sent to Student Congress’s next meeting on Tuesday. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in Adams Hall, Room 151.

Chase Cook

Chase is a former staff member of The Oklahoma Daily who worked as Staff Writer, Managing Editor, Editor in Chief, Managing Editor and Assistant Campus Editor.