The Georgetown University Student Association voted Tuesday to set Feb. 11 as the date on which students will vote to repeal the current GUSA constitution and replace it with a new constitution proposed by The Yard.
Proponents of The Yard, an alternative student government structure to GUSA, delivered a petition to GUSA’s Constitutional Council calling for a proposed amendment to the Constitution.
In the past, The Yard has presented petitions to GUSA which have not met requirements for a valid petition.
Under the current GUSA constitution, if at least one-fifth of the undergraduate student body agrees to a proposed amendment, students University-wide will be able to vote on it.
According to a Jan. 28 e-mail sent to GUSA by The Yard co-chairs for each of the four classes, more than 1,700 students signed the petition agreeing to the proposed amendment.
GUSA representatives unanimously voted to set the Yard Referendum date on the same day as the election for next year’s GUSA executives. According to Yard Senior Co-Chair Peter Freeman (SFS ‘02), students will be voting either “yes” or “no” on the following language: “I vote to amend and repeal the current GUSA constitution and to substitute and replace it with the Yard proposed constitution.” Freeman said every student will be sent an e-mail that will the link to the appropriate site.
According to the GUSA constitution, Freeman said, referendums must appear on a separate ballot from the ballot for the GUSA presidential candidates.
“I still remain in favor of the referendum being as easily accessible to students as possible,” Freeman said. ‘But we would not want to go away from the bylaws of the GUSA constitution.”
If the referendum passes by a simple majority, the current GUSA structure will be disbanded and the proposed Yard constitution will form the basis of a new student government structure at the University.
The constitution of the new Yard Student Association will provide for three separate representative bodies: the Yard Assembly, which will be convened once each semester and will be open to all students; the Yard Commons, which will include one representative from each of the University-endorsed student organizations; and finally, the Yard Council, the executive structure, which will also include representatives from the Yard Commons.
According to the Yard website, the Yard gives more power to students than does the current GUSA system, particularly with regards to student funds.
“Students, through elected representatives or directly, will decide where their money is going,” the website states. “The decision will shift into students hands and away from administrators and non-elected students.”
