Conflict Between Senate Bylaws and Constitution

In light of statements made at Senate Public on Monday, February 24, regarding the interaction between the Student Body Constitution and Senate’s bylaws, existing concerns regarding the transparency of Senate’s conduct have been elevated. This is evidenced by comments made by Sofia Pomeroy ‘25 at Public, as included in Senate Beat on February 28. Pomeroy pointed out that the Student Body Constitution establishes Treasurers as non-voting members of Senate, yet Senate has not followed these guidelines for years, instead allowing Treasurers to vote like any other members of Senate.  The Student Body Constitution states in Article II, Section 3, that Treasurers are to be “ex-officio, non-voting members of the Senate,” but Senate has treated Treasurers as voting members for many years.

The Quest reached out to Vice Treasurer and Senate Parliamentarian Yuri Garcia ‘27 to comment on these concerns and provide further information regarding her assertion at the February 24 Public that the Senate bylaws “tend to override the Constitution.” Garcia said that current Senators “have no idea how to edit [the Constitution],” while recognizing that she and future parliamentarians should look into learning how to do so. Garcia addressed students’ concerns, stating that “from my understanding, the bylaws are sort of a more active edit to the Constitution,” leading Senate to prioritize following their bylaws when they conflict with the Constitution. Garcia further acknowledged that the guidelines of the Constitution vary in relevance today, admitting that Senate’s bylaws tend to carry forward the same language used in the Constitution when it does remain relevant. 

Garcia also provided her own perspective on Treasurers being voting members of Senate, saying “at some point there was a sort of separation between Senate and Treasury” that led Treasurers to be excluded from executive meetings and excluded as voting members of Senate. However, “as it continued, there was a need to join the two together,” leading to the current inclusion of Treasurers as voting members of Senate. Garcia noted that “even though [Treasurers are] not elected, we still stand by the idea that we represent the student body,” and mused that she would be curious to see what the student body thinks about Treasurers being able to vote. She continued that she felt it was not integral that Treasurers continue to be allowed to vote, while she also asserted that “we do handle all the Treasury and the money in the budget and clubs… but we also have our opinions on Senate. We serve on the committees and we are part of the discussions that are taking place.” Concluding, she stated, “I’m not sure how I’d feel if my vote was taken away,” saying that while Treasurers are not elected, they have the same mindset as the rest of Senate. It “doesn’t feel like my voice or my opinion is less important,” Garcia said.

Definitionally, the Student Body Constitution is portrayed as a document that would take precedence over the bylaws of Senate and other clubs. Despite that,  it is not clear whether it or the bylaws should take precedence as there is no clarifying language, and the Constitution has not been updated since 2013. As a result, Senate has chosen to prioritize their bylaws, attempting to keep them in line with the standards of the Constitution whilst adjusting them to mesh with the current environment of Reed.