On Nov. 16 the John Carroll Student Government Senate removed student body President Matthew J. Meyer ‘22 from office after convicting him on two articles of impeachment. 

At the start of the meeting, Sen. Max Malley ‘24 introduced a motion to vacate the chair, a move intended to surprise Meyer. The motion, passing with an 11-2 vote by secret ballot effectively replaced Meyer as presiding officer of the Senate with Vice President Margaret Skubik ‘22. After the results of the vote, Malley proposed adding two new pieces of legislation to the docket under a suspension of the normal rules. This was also voted on by secret ballot and, again, passed with an 11-2 vote. 

The first article of impeachment, Senate Resolution (SR)01-F21, charged that Meyer failed to fulfill his duties as president when he did not fill three vacant class of 2022 Senate seats. The document further stated that Meyer had not given his required State of the University address, and that he had failed to sign legislation within the required timeframe. The article was introduced by Sen. Malley and cosponsored by Vice President Skubik, Director of Business Affairs Kelsey Farrell ‘23, and Sen. Grace Kilfoyle ‘23. 

Meyer argued he was leaving the class of 2022 Senate positions for the new administration to fill. The newly elected administration will take office in January. 

Sen. Kilfoyle, who is also president-elect of the newly elected government, responded later that the positions had remained vacant for a majority of the semester.

“To be fair, those vacancies have been open since the third or fourth meeting,” Kilfoyle told the floor. “I mean, it has been three-fourths of the term where half of the senior class has been unrepresented. It’s not like these vacancies opened last week, they’ve been open for weeks.”

A vote for Meyer’s impeachment and removal on this first article was conducted by secret ballot and passed 11-2 effectively removing him from office. After this, Meyer left the room handing his placard to Chief of Staff Jacob Kozlowski ‘24 and telling the chamber to “have fun.” Moments later, Kozlowski swore in Skubik as the new president of John Carroll’s Student Government.

The second article, Senate Resolution (SR)02-F21, was debated after Meyer’s departure. The article charged that Meyer had campaigned on behalf of a candidate barred from campaigning by the Election Committee, the body which oversees Student Government elections.

While his specific actions were not directly outlined in the resolution, debate on the floor made it clear the charge stems from Meyer’s involvement in elections for Student Government positions held last week.The resolution alleged that Meyer violated his obligation, as a member of the Elections Committee, not to campaign on behalf of any candidate — especially not a candidate barred from campaigning himself —  in order to maintain the neutrality of the committee. The article was submitted and cosponsored by the same individuals as the first article.

During the discussion over the second article, Elections Committee Chair Vince Rizzo ‘23, said he agreed to the terms of the second article and confirmed that, in his opinion, Meyer violated rules governing elections. 

The vote to pass the second article of impeachment was also conducted by secret ballot and was passed 11-2. After the vote passed, Sen. Malley moved to adjourn the meeting which successfully passed.

Vice President of Communications Anna Meyer (no relation to Matthew Meyer) released a public statement saying that “On behalf of John Carroll Student Government, we would like to thank Matthew Meyer for his service as president since his election. At this time, the Senate has decided that it is in Student Government’s best interest to relieve him from his role and responsibilities. We would like to wish the best of luck to Margaret Skubik as she will finish out the remainder of the term as John Carroll’s Student Government President.”

The Carroll News reached out to Meyer for comment but he declined to respond.