As the 2023–24 Harris Student Government (HSG) Board, we wish to address the op-ed written by Aïcha Camara, published in the Maroon on March 30, 2024. Our response is guided by a commitment to transparency and constructive dialogue, aimed to offer our perspective on the claims made in the published piece.  

On December 18, 2023, Camara informed the HSG Executive Board Members of her intent to write an investigatory piece on HSG governance. It was not made clear that her work would take the form of an op-ed for the Maroon rather than an investigative piece, which would have surely been journalistically responsible to communicate. Aiming to contribute to what we believed to be an objective inquiry, we provided detailed clarifications on numerous allegations. We were dismayed to find that the resultant op-ed did not fully reflect the extensive information shared during our in-person meeting on January 18, 2024. Accordingly, we now aim to present a good-faith, comprehensive account of the claims therein and highlight HSG’s ongoing efforts to address the concerns raised by our student body. 

Accusations and Clarifications

April–August 2023

Bylaws and Disqualification: The op-ed claims that the options presented to co-president candidates by the 2022-23 HSG Executive Board, particularly the disqualification option, “directly contradicts the last formally approved set of HSG bylaws.” Yet it fails to cite any specific clause in the respective April 2022 bylaws. Since the bylaws at the time did not directly address this particular scenario, the previous HSG board made the decision to provide various options to candidates in an unforeseen situation, of which the current board is not in a position to comment.

To prevent similar issues in the future, the 2023–24 HSG has clearly defined rules in Article VI Section 3 of the newly revised April 2024 bylaws. These rules mandate that “all candidates must declare their intention to run individually,” in tandem with the existing stipulation that  “no candidate may run for more than one (1) position on the Executive Board in a given election.” Additionally, the roles and responsibilities of the Election Governing Committee have been clearly delineated, and internal guidelines have been established to ensure the integrity of future elections.

Election IT Issues: The op-ed asserts that “IT issues caused over 100 students to not receive the voting link,” which is factually inaccurate. The email chain with IT staff and the former co-president Jane Kim, which was attached as evidence to this claim, does not confirm anywhere that the email in question was the link to vote. After consultations with the Student Engagement Team, last year’s Election Committee, and IT staff, the missing email was actually the initial announcement informing students of the opening of the HSG Board application process, not the voting link. 

However, we recognize and understand the frustration caused by not receiving communications in a timely manner. We learned that this IT issue was a simple fix, as the platform HSG uses to push communications, HubSpot, has various recipient lists. Throughout the year, HSG’s Secretary-General and the Student Engagement staff have diligently maintained these lists to ensure that all necessary parties receive the information they need. HSG will take any additional steps to ensure such oversights are minimized in the future. We recommended to the incoming 2024–25 HSG Board to maintain the listserv and HubSpot directory in sync to ensure everyone stays informed and connected.

Representation in HSG: All Harris students had an equal opportunity to participate in the HSG elections, regardless of their degree programs. Given that the majority of Harris students are pursuing a Masters in Public Policy degree, last year’s candidates were predominantly from this program, as the op-ed correctly points out. It is the voluntary choice of the students to run for HSG Board positions, but we understand the need for diverse representation within the student government. Appointed positions within HSG are carefully structured to ensure diverse representation across different programs. This selection is based on a pool of applicants who formally expressed interest via an application. Article V: Committees of the current Bylaws repeatedly emphasize HSG’s conscious effort to represent students from all degree programs.

HSG Committee Structure: The decisions to suspend the Social Committee and establish a Fundraising Committee were made by the previous HSG board. Although the 2022–23 Board issued the May 2023 Bylaws, which outlined these updates, they were not shared with the student body, including the newly elected board, until the summer of 2023.

We regret that the communication from the previous HSG board was not seamless, leading to a situation where even then-HSG members were unaware of the changes made to the bylaws. In response to this issue and to prevent similar occurrences in the future, the current board undertook a thorough bylaws revision process over a span of 10 weeks. During this period, we hosted an open town hall to gather student feedback, made various draft versions available for the public, and held numerous meetings with various stakeholders, information that was made available through weekly newsletters. As a result of these efforts, we were able to seamlessly share the latest bylaws, which included the newly created Career & Alumni Relations Committee, for which a candidate successfully ran without any issue in the recent 2024 Spring election.

September–October 2023

May 2023 Bylaws: An HSG executive board member contacted the 2022–23 HSG co-president to inquire about the nonexistence of the Fundraising Committee on the April 2023 bylaws. Following discussions, it was brought to light that there were more recent bylaws from May 2023. This bylaw incorporated the most recent changes such as the removal of the Social Committee, creation of the Fundraising Committee, and additional changes. We made this immediately available to the public to the student body via email.

To counter issues of disconnect and loss of institutional knowledge across HSG, the current HSG board has created a transition archive following the co-presidents’ meetings with all new board members to ensure a smooth and well-informed transition. The co-presidents have created a transition checklist and officer evaluations, which are utilized by both outgoing and incoming officers. We hope this archive will continue for years to come, ensuring that institutional knowledge is well-maintained.

Board Dynamics and Resolution Efforts: The op-ed did not adequately represent the efforts made to handle internal conflicts professionally and transparently. Following the election, then-co-president Kim individually approached members of the HSG board seeking support to initiate proceedings to remove co-president Shin. However, the grounds she presented were considered insufficient by the remaining board members to warrant a hearing. 

In response, the Board agreed to initiate formal mediation to help the co-presidents resolve their misunderstandings. Despite the mediation efforts facilitated by an impartial member of the Harris Student Engagement staff, a consensus was not reached. Weeks after the last mediation session, Kim called an official board meeting on August 18, 2023. During the first official virtual HSG board meeting, Kim proposed shifting immediately to a one-president model and introduced several bylaws changes that she had independently decided upon. However, the rest of the board decided against these proposals, expressing concerns about the rushed nature of the change and advocating for more thorough discussion rather than precipitating action. Given the state of things, an all-board meeting with a third-party mediator was proposed to address ongoing issues constructively; Kim chose not to participate.

Instead of engaging with the board to seek a path forward, she released a blog post detailing election issues that had not been previously discussed with any board members. Furthermore, she organized an open student meeting for the student body without notifying the board, advocating for a complete and immediate re-election in September and proposing the removal of all current board members. This approach and one-sided narrative led to significant confusion not only for returning second-year students but also for incoming first-year students who had just started their Harris experience. In response to the one-sided narrative, the board issued a formal statement to provide a clear and comprehensive narrative of the events, aiming to maintain the integrity of our institution.

To prevent similar situations in the future, we underwent a comprehensive consultation process and decided to transition to a president/vice president governance model. The board engaged with the student body throughout the process to gather their sentiments and spoke with Harris student service staff to receive their institutional knowledge from past HSG experience and development. The board has carefully considered these changes to ensure greater efficiency and stability, especially with the clearly stated and delegated roles and responsibilities between the president and vice president, as stated in the newest bylaws. We remain committed to respecting the student body’s preferences and ensuring that all decisions are made with thorough due diligence and collective input, as demanded by our governance responsibilities. We hope the new governance structure better reflects the needs of our student body in conducting our duties.  

Working Relationship with Harris Student Organizations (HSOs): Camara raised concerns about HSG’s relationship to HSOs, suggesting poor communication surrounding responsibilities and feedback. We’d note that the two bodies’ respective roles and responsibilities are well defined; each year, new HSO leadership teams are actively engaged by the Office of Student Engagement in an advisory capacity. HSG’s primary responsibilities related to HSOs include allocating funds, providing credible oversight, and offering support to ensure their seamless operations throughout the year. 

Furthermore, HSG maintains official communication channels with HSOs via email and listserv to ensure clarity and accountability. It was in response to a time-sensitive situation, detailed below, that an HSG executive and HSO leader WhatsApp group was established to facilitate quick and direct dialogue. Such a group also serves as a forum for HSO leaders to freely collaborate on their initiatives and share their experiences, supplementing our formal communication channels. HSG is open to suggestions on how we can effectively communicate with HSO leaders to provide any support they may seek.

HSO Funding Applications: We acknowledge the concerns raised regarding the autumn quarter 2023 funding application process. The unintended error in sending the initial email notification to the wrong listserv resulted in confusion among HSO leaders regarding the deadline. Upon receiving feedback about this oversight, we promptly extended the application deadline to October 16 to ensure all HSOs had ample time to submit their funding applications. 

In recent years, autumn quarter applications have opened weeks after the quarter began, resulting in the disbursement of funds near the halfway point of the quarter. Furthermore, without sufficient transition and training of HSO leadership in the previous spring, many new leaders struggled to utilize the platform and submit the budget in the correct format.

To address this issue, HSG has moved forward the autumn quarter budget application to the end of spring quarter. This change allows incoming leadership to work on the new quarterly budget under the supervision of the outgoing officers. HSG aims not only to allocate the budget more efficiently but also to encourage HSOs to plan ahead and engage in a thorough transition process.

Nov 2023–Now

November 2023 Bylaws Update: The changes made to the bylaws in November 2023 were intended to clarify certain time-sensitive issues and vagueness in May 2023 bylaws. These included issues relating to the removal of external involvement in HSG procedures, eligibility requirements in office for board members, and issues relating to the vagueness of a vacant co-president role. 

We revised Article VIII Section 3 to appropriately reassign the attendance responsibility during the removal process from the “Dean of Student Affairs” to the “Director of Student Affairs” after consulting with the Dean of Student Affairs. Secondly, the changes relating to the eligibility of former board members, which made them ineligible from running for future board positions in the case of resignation, sought to prevent the situation where a board member resigns before their removal hearing and then applies to re-run for said position. Lastly, the vagueness in the bylaws pertaining to a co-presidency vacancy complicated matters. Article IX Section 3 of the 2023 May bylaws stated the need for two new co-presidents to be appointed in the case of a vacancy. It did not specify if the existing co-president had to resign nor if it was possible to have three co-presidents. Henceforth, the Board deemed it necessary to swiftly enact the aforementioned changes to prevent future complications with the December co-president election.

HSO Funds: There was an allegation calling into question the decrease in HSO funding from $80,936.88 to $48,129.00 related to HSG operations. Camara argued that the 2022–23 HSG budget was $85,936.88 from student activities fees and rollover from the prior year, despite HSG budget allocation being $48,129.00.

This 40% difference comes from the removal of the Social Committee. The Social Committee’s main responsibility was to prepare for the Harris Talent Show in the winter and the Harris Gala in the spring, which together require approximately 40–50% of the entire HSG budget. According to Camara’s “leaked documentation,” the total allocated budget for 2022–23 was $84,546.00, with $44,400.00 allocated for HSO funding and $39,500.00 directly allocated to the Social Committee. After accounting for the HSG admin cost, the numbers add up.

The Social Committee’s responsibilities were transferred to a newly created group known as the Board of Engagement (BoE), operating under the Student Engagement Team. This team is led by a Student Engagement staff member, with multiple current students serving as BoE members to assist in organizing events like the Harris Gala, Follies, and Harris After Hours. Past Social Committees often faced difficulties planning events for hundreds of students as they themselves were students, so this transition aims to relieve students of this burden. Staff members, who have the institutional knowledge and experience planning such events, now lead the efforts, ensuring more effective and efficient event organization. In short, the money did not disappear; it was used for our Gala and Follies. 

Conclusion

The intent of this response aims to present a more accurate and complete picture of the governance issues raised within HSG. We remain committed to fostering transparency, accountability, and inclusivity in all our endeavors, and we wish for HSG to continue to play an important role in elevating student experience at Harris for years to come. We encourage constructive dialogue and welcome continued engagement from the Harris student body to collectively enhance our community’s experience. It was these ideas that focused our efforts on smoothly transitioning to a new HSG Board, dedicated to enhancing our understanding of the roles and responsibilities within HSG. This transition has been instrumental in equipping the board with the necessary insights to navigate upcoming challenges and leverage available resources effectively.

Ralph Valery Valiere, the president of HSG for the 2024–25 academic year, emphasized the value of this process: “Having the transition with the former co-presidents was insightful as it helped me and the new executive team understand the ongoing work, anticipate potential challenges, and become aware of the resources at our disposal. This gave us crucial information that has been pivotal in adjusting our plans and actions for the academic year. I believe this is an important process that should be sustained over the years.”

As we move forward, HSG remains committed to refining our governance practices and fostering a transparent, inclusive environment where all voices are heard. We are inspired by the past achievements and are eager to build on them, ensuring that HSG continues to effectively serve and represent the Harris community. We appreciate the dialogue that has unfolded and anticipate it will guide our actions and initiatives in the coming years, reinforcing our dedication to excellence and student advocacy.

Respectfully,

2023–24 Harris Student Government Board

The Harris Student Government is the leading student organization at the Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy, acting as a liaison between the faculty and administration for the Harris student community.