Sara Lavender, director of the Student Government Association First Year Council (FYC), resigned last night as a result of irregularities in the application scoring process, SGA communications director Seth Morrow said.
First Year Council is a part of the SGA that was created to allow the freshman class to be represented in student government. Over 600 students submitted applications. Zack Freeman, a former FYC member who served on the scoring committee, said he witnessed multiple conversations between members of the committee about applicants they had discussed earlier.
In addition, Freeman said he overheard conversations between members about what scores to give each candidate.
The committee was created to score applications in order to determine which applicants would be given a chance to interview for a seat on the council.
“There was an irregularity, and the process is being evaluated,” Morrow said. “That scoring process is invalid. All applications will be rescored.”
David Simpson, SGA attorney general, said his office will look into the matter to ensure compliance with all SGA rules and laws.
“I am disappointed in the irregularities that arose during Tuesday night’s First Year Council scoring meeting,” he said.
Morrow emphasized that while the applications will be reviewed again to determine which students are given interviews, there is no need for any student to resubmit an application.
“This does not compromise people’s applications. The process is starting fresh,” he said.
According to Morrow, the process will proceed under the leadership of a new FYC Director, who will be nominated before the SGA Senate meeting tonight and subject to Senate confirmation.
The SGA Senate Ethics Committee is also reviewing the allegations made against several senators and legislative staff members regarding the selection process, said Senate communications director Austin Gaddis.
Due to the overwhelming number of applicants, the announcement of those who will continue to the interview process has been delayed.
