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At a special trial Tuesday, University of Maine Student Government senators found Student Body President Nelson Carson guilty on articles of impeachment, voting 31-2 to remove him from office.
The senate’s decision took effect immediately. UMSG Vice President Anthony Ortiz will assume the presidency and a new vice president will be appointed by the senate at the body’s next weekly meeting on April 5.
Sen. Peter Christopher presided over the trial, which began with opening statements from prosecution and defense. Witnesses were called on behalf of the prosecution and were cross-examined by the defense. Both sides then delivered closing statements.
During opening statements, Sen. Sam Helmke, who served as lead prosecutor, outlined the circumstances under which the General Student Senate may remove the president. Helmke said Carson had failed to communicate and fulfill his own goals.
“President Carson, I believe, knows during his term in office thus far he has not met the requirements of his job description and his leadership has been inadequate,” Helmke said. “It is solely his responsibility, and again he has mismanaged this great responsibility.”
UMaine alumnus Andrew Johnson spoke on Carson’s behalf. Johnson said accusations against Carson were “vague” and “paradoxically absurd,” urging senators to protect a “vocal and public advocate of the University of Maine Student Government.”
Johnson said although the primary complaint against Carson was the failed website contract, the fault laid with website developer Ryan Gavin, to whom Student Government has paid almost $1,000 to date.
“Mr. Gavin’s failures being projected as faults of Carson’s administration is laughable if it weren’t so real,” Johnson said.
Johnson also argued that Gavin had lead a “smear campaign” against Caron’s administration.
“This campaign has involved his numerous radio shows, his personal website, newspaper editorials and back-door conservations with active members of Student Government,” he said.
Johnson described what he felt was a public campaign launched to discredit Carson’s presidency. He quoted a Feb. 24 editorial in The Maine Campus that compared Carson to Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman,” believing such comparisons “are good prep for a literature paper,” but “references to him being nice or friendly are not faults, but proof of the de facto hostile environment that has aligned itself against him.”
Johnson encouraged senators not to believe the accusations, saying, “You’re going to recognize in President Carson someone who gets the job done despite distractions.”
Three members of Carson’s cabinet —Vice President Ortiz, Vice President of Student Entertainment Joseph Nabozny and Vice President of Student Organizations Hannah Hudson — took the stand to say Carson should be removed from office. They all cited experiences when Carson missed executive meetings, failed to attend office hours and acted in a way unbecoming of a president, leading them to say he lacked leadership qualities.
Ortiz said Carson attended only half of his office hours and said he witnessed Carson get in “screaming matches” with Gavin. Ortiz characterized the behavior as “unprofessional.”
Hudson said Carson failed to inform her about executive meetings. She characterized the two meetings she had with him as “unprofessional,” adding she did not believe he could fulfill his duties if allowed to continue as president.
Nabozny said Carson failed to hold cabinet meetings. He agreed the president had not “served effectively and competently” during his time in office and said he warned Carson before spring break that he could face impeachment if he failed meet his goals.
“We all know Nelson is a great person — no one’s questioning that,” Nabozny said. “In my opinion, in the three [presidents] that I have personally seen, by far the worst example of leadership we have seen has been President Carson.”
Nabozny said Carson articulated his goals well but was unable to achieve them.
“It’s easy to come up with ideas and aspirations but to follow up on them is where the hard part starts,” Nabozny said.
Director of External Affairs Jose Roman was also called to testify. Roman thought Carson was involved in work “way outside his job description” and failed to delegate duties. He said the public displays of UMSG problems “centered” around Carson were “embarrassing.”
Roman and members of the executive cabinet were not allowed to vote.
Taking the stand, Carson said he didn’t believe an impeachment trial was the correct route to settle disputes he felt could be addressed in private, saying he felt “blindsided” by the accusations.
“It’s your job to back me up or take my ideas and run with them. Not a single one of you has run with them. My failure is forcing you guys with taking my ideas and passing or failing them,” Carson said.
Responding to Helmke’s question regarding office hours, Carson elaborated that his office hours were listed as “any time I was awake and out of class.”
Carson acknowledged claims that he had missed executive meetings and office hours, though he disagreed that strictly abiding by them was necessary. He explained he was often meeting with administration or engaging students on how to improve campus life.
“I reach out and go have lunch with students or see what clubs on campus are doing,” Carson said. “That’s what I feel the president should be doing — not sitting down and filling out X, Y and Z and then washing my hands of the job afterwards.”
Responding to Carson’s comment that he had never received a message from a student after missing office hours, Helmke asked, “So you’re trying to tell me the voicemail or pad of paper is an effective method of communication? The students are paying you with their money and you find it acceptable to take that money and leave a notepad?”
Carson said he didn’t.
Helmke asked whether the failure to abide by the terms of the website contract constituted a breach in a direct order from GSS. While Carson acknowledged the site remained incomplete, he claimed Gavin should share the blame.
“Where does my responsibility lie?” Carson asked. “Do I have to be on his doorstep to ensure that this gets done? Do I have to walk him through the process? I paid him $1,000 because I am a president that has other things to do.”
Carson said he felt “misunderstood” and accepted that he communicated poorly with his senators during his time as president.
“The biggest failure I think I have made is not creating an atmosphere for you guys to come in and talk to me. Students will come in and talk to me. I can talk to faculty and the administration. But for the 35 senators — that’s where I need to work on,” he said.
Carson said he knew it was impossible for him to fulfill his goals alone and asked senators to move ahead with him.
The defense did not call any witnesses.
Helmke closed his arguments by saying all of the witnesses he had called testified, “Nelson has failed to lead the organization.”
“If you want progress, you need tangible results.” Helmke said. “A vote of guilty is a vote for progress and swift action. This body needs to show it has strength.”
Johnson claimed the prosecution’s arguments were based on “secondhand” information and failed to establish the burden of proof.
“A general sense of professionalism and leadership is exactly what Nelson has been showing in the past months and four years he’s been at the University of Maine campus,” Johnson said. “I don’t think that anyone here has demonstrated an adequate description of what leadership or professional is, or how Nelson has failed that.”
Johnson also read a statement from Carson.
“‘No accusations made against me are strong enough to require my removal,’” Johnson read. “‘Pressing the “next button” to get someone new in my position will only slow us down further and will create a new strong man to attack.’”
Before the trial moved into executive session, Sen. Alex Ortiz moved to suspend the standing rules to allow UMSG faculty representative EJ Roach to witness the deliberation. Afterward all non-senators, including GSS executives, were excluded from debate.
During deliberation several students criticized the senate.
“One of their essential points was that [Carson] was being unprofessional, and I couldn’t believe they were texting and signaling across the table,” Alex Clark said.
The trial then reopened to the public to hear the verdict.
During the senate’s regularly scheduled meeting before the trial, Gavin rose to read a text message he received from Carson earlier in the day.
“‘I would like you to be around tonight to be witness to these accusations you have made against me if you are man enough to defend yourself in public,’” Gavin read. “Well, I’m here and I’m not going to testify.”
Carson did not deny he sent the message.
In a statement after the meeting, Carson said he felt he had been “robbed” from office.
“I wasn’t able to make any changes that I was told needed to be made and I wasn’t told about these changes until now,” Carson said. “They’re happy, they’re all on the same page now. Hopefully they can move forward as an organization. My plans are still to work, to follow through with the goals I want to create. I didn’t need this position to voice for the students.
“Unfortunately I can’t do it with the backing of the student senate, but I can do it with the backing of the student body,” Carson said.
Helmke said he was saddened with the proceedings.
“I was there when we wrote our new standing rules and I never thought we’d have to use this mechanism, but obviously the vote reflects tonight that it was necessary,” he said.
Helmke noted that Carson wasn’t the only obstacle hindering UMSG, saying “everyone has room for improvement.”
“With new leadership, we hold a better shot at moving forward than what we had with President Carson,” he said.
GSS also granted allocations during its regular meeting before the trial.
The Muslim Student Association was allocated $3,000 to bring two speakers to campus for its Islamic Awareness Week from April 8-23.
$1,731 was allocated to the Animation Club to attend an anime convention in Boston. The funding will cover lodging and travel.
$1,340 was funded to the Cycling Club for an upcoming bike race in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. $520 will be spent on lodging and $820 will cover race fees.
The International Students Association was funded $1,350 for the International Graduation Dinner to be held April 30 in the Buchanan Alumni House.
The UMaine Equestrian team was allocated $135.01 for its regional tournament at Dartmouth College.
The Formula Society for Automotive Engineers and the Photography Club received final recognition.
