Council Impeachment Unconstitutional

To the editors:

Last Sunday, the Undergraduate Council passed a resolution seeking the removal of popularly elected vice president John A. Burton '01 (News, Feb. 7). The council's decision to pass this resolution departs from the logical dictates of justice and invites closer scrutiny.

Pursuant to a 1995 constitutional amendment, Fentrice D. Driskell '01 and Burton were elected president and vice president of the council, respectively, by the undergraduate student body. Prior to the amendment, the president and vice president were elected internally by the council.

When the student body's constitution was amended to provide for the popular election of the executive officers, there are some factual grounds to believe that it was later amended in 1997 to require a vote by the entire student body to remove popularly elected executive officers.

As the sole officer vested with the authority to interpret the constitution, Driskell ruled last Sunday that the resolution to remove Burton from office through a vote by the council alone was unconstitutional. At the behest of the resolution's proponents--which included three defeated presidential candidates--and with an amazing disregard for the explicit reading of the 1997 constitutional amendment, the council overruled Driskell.

In its decision to overrule the president, the council implied that the provision for removing an officer that existed prior to the 1997 amendment was the controlling authority. Even without legal training, council members should have known that an amendment supersedes earlier provisions. By blatantly disregarding the constitutional requirement for a popular vote to remove an executive officer, the resolution's sponsors--with the consent of the council--have divested the entire student body of its exclusive right.

It appears that those candidates who lost in the popular election cannot accept the student body's rejection of their candidacy. Instead, they have chosen to reverse the student decision to elect Burton. Now these same people want to deny the student body of its right to a recall vote and a choice to retain Burton as vice president.

We are troubled that procedural due process and fairness have been hijacked by a disgruntled minority that cannot accept defeat. As students of government and advocates for justice, we implore the council to resurrect the right of the student body and reconsider last week's decision to ignore the constitutional provision that allows only the student body to recall an executive officer. The collective and reasoned voice of the people at large should not be silenced by the screams of a few.

Adam Taylor

Reynelle Brown

Clayton A. Bond

Feb. 10, 2000

Adam Taylor is president of the Harvard chapter of the NAACP. Reynelle Brown and Clayton A. Bond are co-chairs of the Black Student Caucus at the Kennedy School of Government.

Survey on Burton Not Statistically Significant

To the editors:

As your news article "Students Support Removing Burton" (News, Feb. 9) states, only 41 students were interviewed at four dining halls--hardly a scientific sample of an undergraduate body of 6,000. Of those 41, 24 students felt Undergraduate Council Vice President John A. Burton '01 should be removed. If this were the council impeachment vote, 24 votes out of 41 would not reach the two-thirds standard to remove Burton. Thus, there is hardly a clear consensus on the issue.

Preston Bradley Golson '02

Feb. 9, 2000

ABHW Event Brought Community Together

To the editors:

Richard G. Johnson in his letter "Different Prices at 'Tribute' Inappropriate" (Letters, Feb. 10) mentions that he regrets that there exists an event called "Tribute to Black Men." However, the tribute to White House aide Ben Johnson was not divisive, as Johnson suggests, but intended to educate the entire community on issues ranging from the changing roles of black men in society to relations among different races.

At the party on February 5, there was no race-based difference in pricing and a number of black, white, Asian and Hispanic students were in attendance. All members of the University community are welcome at ABHW events.

Jessica M. Reid '00

The writer is treasurer of the Association of Black Harvard Women.