Class representatives voted May 7 to impeach third-year Nevin Hall, the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) officer responsible for supervising USG elections and distributing RSO funding. The vote at the emergency meeting of the College Council (CC) was 13–0 for impeachment, with two abstentions.

During a Monday, May 5 CC meeting, representatives passed a resolution calling for Hall’s resignation as chair of the Elections & Rules Committee (E&R) based on allegations shared during a closed-door meeting.

The resolution, which was obtained by the Maroon prior to the May 7 meeting, accuses Hall of engaging in “a consistent pattern of violation of public trust, neglect of duty, and malfeasance of office during the 2023-2024 academic year and the 2024-2025 academic year.”

The impeachment also removed three other members of E&R—third-years Aidan Long, Ayla Eichler, and Evan Spear—who were described as “friends” of Hall and accused of supporting his attempt to nullify the spring 2025 USG election results.

Prior to his impeachment, Hall had served as vice president of student organizations (VPSO) since winter quarter and chair of E&R since 2023. E&R oversees USG elections, mediates disputes that arise during the election process, and manages changes to the USG bylaws and constitution.

The emergency meeting was held in a packed classroom in Cobb Hall, with curious members of the public sitting on the floor and crowding into the hallway. Multiple class representatives described it as “the most well-attended CC meeting we’ve ever had.”

In an opening statement, USG President Elijah Jenkins alleged that, after the Monday vote requesting Hall’s resignation, Hall revoked public access to election documents on the USG website and deleted a number of unspecified budgetary and election-related materials. Jenkins also noted that Hall had refused to answer numerous emails from USG colleagues. Hall was not present at the emergency meeting. The Maroon has been unable to access documents on E&R’s website since at least 12:30 p.m. on May 5.

Jenkins also alleged that, after learning of the emergency session, Hall scheduled an E&R meeting for the morning of May 7. During the meeting, Hall allegedly appointed himself as E&R secretary before resigning as chair to frustrate the impeachment attempt, after which his “friends” on the committee filed a motion to nullify the results of the spring 2025 elections at his direction.

Jenkins said during the emergency meeting that he and all members of the executive committee consider the nullification invalid.

In a statement to the Maroon, Hall denied all allegations of misconduct, asserting that he never misled the College Council or withheld information regarding by-law changes, and that all edits were prompted by requests from other USG members. Hall claimed that no RSO funds were unfairly withheld, and that all funding decisions were made by the full PCC committee. He maintained his comments about certain RSOs were based solely on their budgeting practices, not personal bias, and highlighted that some groups he criticized received increased funding, while a group he praised had its funding cut. Hall also stated that he believed the documents he removed were accessible by other channels.

Kevin Guo, a second-year representative on the CC, told the Maroon before Wednesday’s meeting that Hall had embarked on a campaign to “centralize power around himself within the Undergraduate Student Government.” On May 4, Guo submitted a memo to the CC raising concerns about what he described as a “consistent lack of candor to [the Council], which has resulted in the increasing centralization of power in the hands of the Elections and Rules Committee (E&R) and—now—the Vice President of Student Organizations (VPSO).” Guo also wrote the impeachment resolution and compiled the evidence.

According to an edit history analysis provided to the Maroon and presented as evidence in the impeachment hearing, Hall, as part of a rewrite he characterized to be “eliminating redundancy,” made at least 31 changes to USG bylaws between November 2023 and April 2025, at least 12 of which directly or indirectly increased the powers of his positions, most notably by prohibiting the impeachment of E&R members.

An April 28 CC meeting, with attendees including Hall and Guo, addressed Hall’s changes to the bylaws. According to the minutes, Hall claimed “all these changes are things either you’ve approved me to do, [Jenkins] asked me to do, or others requested. None of this originated solely from me.” According to the meeting minutes, no attendees disputed Hall’s characterization of why the bylaws were changed at the time.

Anonymous complaints submitted to the College Council and provided to the Maroon allege that, in his position as VPSO, Hall “expressed clear personal biases about various RSOs” prior to and during Program Coordinating Council (PCC) meetings, and “demonstrated a general disregard for due process” by suppressing debate and calling snap votes on funding decisions.

One complaint presents Hall’s comments regarding UChicago Robotics as an example of such bias: “he spoke positively about Robotics, saying he was a ‘big fan’ of their budget proposal from the previous year, and indicated that if he chose to use the ‘equipment fund,’ it would likely go to them, even before we had met with any RSOs.” Another complaint accused Hall of making funding decisions without researching RSOs coming before the PCC and of taking over the funding appeals process.

At the May 7 emergency meeting, Guo explained that he intended to file articles of impeachment against Hall at a May 12 CC meeting. However, the Council requested an emergency session in response to Hall’s decision to revoke document access and pursue the nullification of its elections. Jenkins agreed to the request and overruled both the usual 48-hour notice and the requirement for E&R chair consent.

In communications reviewed by the Maroon, Jenkins expressed concerns that Hall would attempt to overturn the results of the spring 2025 USG elections at the E&R meeting scheduled for May 8.

According to Jenkins, second-year Oliver Zajac will become the interim chair of E&R; he had reason to believe Zajac was not associated with the effort to overturn the election because Hall had opposed Zajac’s appointment to E&R. Grace Beatty, a first-year representative, was offered the position of interim PCC chair.

Editors Note, May 8, 6:40 p.m.: Hall had not been not contacted for comment prior to publication but later provided the Maroon with a statement. The article was then edited to incorporate his statement.

Editor’s Note: Grace Beatty, a first-year representative on the College Council, is a current staff member of the Maroon. She had no involvement in the reporting of this story.