Each semester, the Director of Committee Affairs (DCA) stands in front of the Upper School assembly to give out committee grades. Each semester, the DCA explains their reasoning: the criteria under which they assign the grades and the minimums that a slate must meet in order to keep their position. Each semester, students sitting in the audience don’t expect failed committees, a surprise impeachment, or a small protest. This semester, however, the unexpected happened.
The requirement for a committee, as stated by the DCA, is to host two events by the end of the semester outside of student government time. However, one committee failed to meet this requirement.
As DCA Lola Yee stood on the auditorium stage giving out grades, the lights behind her faded to red as the slide flipped to Model Home. The text under the committee was typed in large letters: “FAIL.” As gasps and whispers began across the audience, Yee began to explain her reasoning behind impeaching the fully senior slate.
Plenary continued as normal, with murmurs traveling through the audience as Yee continued to give out grades. Other than Model Home, each committee received a “Satisfactory” or above. During the announcement period, however, chaos ensued within the general assembly. President Ty Donath allowed Model Home head Lincoln Hamid to speak to the Upper School, pleading his case as to why their slate should stay in office. An anonymous underclassman, who was “trying to complete the student voice sudoku in peace,” said, “All of the sudden, Lincoln was on the stage talking into the microphone about how the slate actually hosted two events. I guess they were kinda right, they put tampons in the bathrooms and hosted the gingerbread house contest. But at the same time, I understand that those weren’t outside of student government time and the tampons weren’t really an event but just a thing they did. I think at the root of this issue is the fact that no one really understands what Model Home does, maybe even the heads. With this misunderstanding of what the committee does, nothing can really get done and that’s probably the reason for the impeachment.”
This small protest was not deemed friendly by Student Government advisor Jeanne Barr. While the impeachment isn’t the first of its kind, it’s a rare occurrence that a slate gets impeached from office and especially rare for a protest to be held by the slate during plenary. “I’m pretty involved in Student Government,” said sophomore and Student Government secretary Tallulah Koenig, “I’ve been told that something like this, an impeachment, rarely ever happens. Even though I’ve never heard a specific stat, like 15 slates have ever been impeached, I’ve heard that slates rarely ever fail to meet the requirements of the DCA. The last impeachment I’ve heard about was when the Performing Arts committee got impeached a few years ago. I’ve never heard of a President getting impeached or a really important position like that, and I’m sure those that were impeached didn’t stage a protest the same way this Model Home slate did. In cabinet, we all agreed that although the slate definitely had the right to be angry or frustrated, they shouldn’t have staged an in-prom-tu protest that was as dramatic as it was. Instead, they should have met with the DCA and President individually instead of making it a big scene in front of the whole Upper School.”
The chaos of the impeachment isn’t stopping the Upper School from engaging in Student Government. According to Barr, a total of 16 applications for Model Home were submitted. Sophomore Madeline Brown submitted an application in the special election and said, “I thought this was a good time to get involved in student government since I wanted a position in the spring, but didn’t get the position. I thought that I would be good at Model Home because I think with a bit of understanding of what the committee is meant to do, I could really help the committee reach its full potential with decorations and making the building more festive and welcoming.”
Brown felt that the process was accessible and open to the entire student body. “Even though I haven’t had much involvement before, other than attending senate meetings, this was a perfect opportunity for me and other Upper School students to get involved.”
