UF Student Senate President Kellie Dale said she would not leave her post despite a student senator's request for her immediate resignation on Tuesday night.
The request came after Sen. Ben Cavataro, Orange and Blue Party Senate leader, asked for Sen. Sheldon Nagesh's resignation last week because Nagesh's residential address at the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity house isn't in District E, which he has represented since Feb. 19. A hearing to investigate Nagesh's rightful district is scheduled for 3 p.m. today in Room 287 of the Reitz Union.
Sen. Leslie Veiga, a member of the Orange and Blue Party, said Dale was "fully aware of the fabrication" of Nagesh's application to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he was appointed to at last week's Senate meeting by a vote of 41-10.
"Dale turned a blind eye to the truth," Veiga said. "No government can function without the trust of the people."
Dale asked senators to check their facts before making "serious accusations" during public debate. She said she followed all procedures regarding review of applications for Senate seats while she was Senate president pro-tempore last semester, adding that Veiga's allegations would be dispelled at today's hearing. Dale said she was originally confused about Nagesh's address on his application, but it was approved by other senators and the Student Senate secretary. Audrey Goldman, Rules and Ethics Committee chairwoman, asked senators to ignore Veiga's accusations because they were made before Nagesh's hearing, rendering them "unethical."
But the meeting wasn't completely confrontational.
Senators also unanimously passed a resolution to honor former UF student and Army veteran Jonathon Cote, who was kidnapped in November 2006 while working for a private security firm in Iraq and is still missing. Cote attended UF beginning in fall 2005 for one year and was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity.
Matt Sloan, the fraternity's president who read the resolution to senators, said Cote was a leader and mentor within his fraternity and served his country "in a time of peril." Sloan said the resolution lets Cote's family know UF cares.
