At its Monday meeting, the Syracuse University Student Association voted to return speaking privileges to one member and denied another. Both lost the ability to speak during meetings after being investigated by the organization’s Judicial Review Board.

Public Relations Committee Co-chair Torre Payton-Jackson and Representative John Jankovic were both put under a behavioral violations investigation by the JRB after accusations that they had broken the SA Constitution and Bylaws surfaced.

Jackson was found not guilty, while Jankovic was found guilty during Monday night’s meeting. Jackson’s right to speak was restored, and Jankovic’s was not.

Both members presented an appeal at the meeting to be given back their speaking rights. SA approved Jackson’s appeal but disapproved Jankovic’s. SA voted to overturn the corrective action 15 to 2.

The JRB put Jackson under review for using profane language during an incident with Speaker of the Assembly Will Pritchett and JRB Chair Vishwas Paul at a Feb. 4 meeting.

Jackson argued that she should not be punished when she was not found guilty. She also said that that as a PR Chair, she needs speaking rights and funding.

“If I can’t speak, I cannot do my job,” she said.

JRB member Emberlin Leja encouraged the assembly to consider Jackson’s appeal and said their decision as a mistake. She said the last thing they would want to do is disenfranchise a member.

Paul said he will hold more meetings to educate members on SA’s constitution and bylaws.

Jankovic appealed to have his speaking rights returned after the JRB reviewed him for an incident during a diversity affairs chair election in August 2018. JRB characterized Jankovic’s statements during that meeting as a personal attack against Diversity Affairs Committee Co-chair Quincy Nolan, who at the time was running for the position.

Academic Affairs Committee Chair Ryan Golden said that Jankovic attacked Nolan’s loyalty to the organization.

According to a JRB report, “John’s actions were coercive, and an attempt to gain an advantage over a fellow assembly member …  and were characterized best as a personal attack.”

Jankovic said that he did not intend to hurt anyone’s feelings that day or gain any advantage. Nolan said that Jankovic should get his speaking rights back because the event happened so early in the school year.

Golden said that the point in time of the incident is irrelevant in comparison to the importance of SA’s ethics.

“We need to hold ourselves to a standard that we have written for ourselves”, he said. “If we choose to ignore a personal attack, it wouldn’t have mattered if we chose to keep the bylaws or burn them.”

SA voted against Jankovic’s appeal. Ten against, three for, and three abstained.

Other business

• SA will give out tickets for the Syracuse-Duke men’s basketball game at the beginning of the SU women’s basketball game on Thursday night. Tickets will be distributed at Gate C.
• Jackson proposed a panel on the documentary “Surviving R. Kelly” and sexual assault and relationship violence. It would feature two members from the documentary, Faith Rodgers and Lizzette Martinez. The panel would require $2,500 in funding.

Published on February 19, 2019 at 1:33 am

Contact Abby: akweiss@syr.edu | @abbyweiss_21