Student Senate Meeting Minutes from June 13, 2017 can be accessed by clicking the Hyper-Link Below
Following the release of the first issue of the year, The Knight News obtained student senate meeting minutes, which claimed a meeting had taken place on June 13th, 2017. The minutes included nominations for the vice presidential candidacy, Student Association executive chairs, election of student senate and agreed on stipend amounts for the 2017-2018 fiscal year.
Upon reviewing the minutes, TKN was inclined to further investigate its contents, as the alleged chairperson presiding the meeting, had been listed as Marco Sin, SA vice president elect–who had resigned from the organization on May 11th.
In an effort to bring transparency to the issue, TKN reached out to the 16 of the 17 members listed present at the June 13th meeting. Of the 16 members contacted, 11 responded. Of the 11, nine stated they were not present at said meeting, while two members, Paramjit Kaur and Parveen Singh, stated being present at the alleged meeting. Singh, after originally claiming he was not at said meeting, later stated he was “conferenced in.”
Kavita Sawh, a junior majoring in political science and economics with a minor in BALA, was listed present at the alleged meeting. Ms. Sawh commented on the minutes, stating, “I’m currently one of the student senators for this year’s Academic Senate. I was never informed about this meeting and therefore I was never in attendance for such a meeting. I was also an alternate senator last year and I don’t recall any meetings of this nature taking place last year either. With that said, how can I motion for said nominations if I know for a fact I wasn’t there? Having been in S.A. for the past two years also as a general member, I was never informed that this process involved Student Senate.”
Anisha Lall, a junior psychology major with a minor in BALA, was also listed present at the meeting. Ms. Lall states, “I was not aware of this meeting whatsoever nor did I motion to approve the agenda or the nominations of the executive assistant eboard. In my past two years being involved with the Student Association, I have been an alternate senator (last year) as well as a senator at the time these minutes were taken. In both years, the responsibilities and rights as a senator were never made clear to me. The Academic Senate was always relayed to me as being a completely separate entity from the Student Association (SA) and having no right in the decision making process of SA.”
TKN reached out to Student Association president Japneet Singh, along with his executive board, Akila Wazeed, and treasurer Ramneet Singh, asking whether the meeting occurred on said date, why members were denying such a meeting, and what the motivation was to fabricate these minutes, if they were in fact false. Furthermore, TKN asked Mr. Singh, whether he was aware the minutes were possibly fabricated, and whether he was directly responsible for said fabrication, as the minutes were submitted by him.
Mr. Singh responded, “I, Japneet Singh am not responsible for the minutes and/or in anyway in charge of calling Student Senate meetings in general. However, the entire Student Association team has noticed an inconsistency in the way meetings have been recorded, so much so that we will be holding another Student Senate meeting and having a re-vote for the position of Vice President. There is a strong consensus that Ms. Akila Wazeed has been doing an excellent job upholding the duties of Vice-President, and will continue to do so.”
TKN further questioned Singh, asking him to clarify the discrepancy of the meeting minutes, as his denial of responsibility conflicted with his signature, “Respectfully Submitted, Japneet Singh President, Student Association.” Furthermore, TKN reached out about an actual vote taking place for Wazeed, in reference to an alleged “re-vote” to clarify the “inconsistency” of current SA meetings.
As of the publication of this article, Student Association has failed to answer these questions.
In what may have been a response to the news of the release of the counterfeit meeting minutes, Student Association called for a meeting on Oct. 9th, 2017 at 6:30 PM. Amanda Migdal was present at said meeting.
Paraphrasing Singh, Migdal states, “Japneet said that the minutes for the meeting on June 13th are fake, that the meeting never occurred. Japneet also said he will be telling the Knight News that these meeting minutes are made-up.”
Japneet Singh has not informed TKN of any matters regarding this meeting, as of the publication of this article.
TKN asked Migdal whether she felt voicing her concerns to our staff would result in different treatment from SA, as she is a general member of the organization.
“Over the last week, after I voiced numerous concerns I had with SA, their attitudes towards me have changed, where when I try to speak I am not getting their attention, or am receiving feedback. I am not fearing a retaliation between them and me personally, but my E-Board of Circle K has asked me to be impartial. They feel we will have trouble receiving a budget or funding events.”
TKN reached out to Director of Student Development & Leadership, Dwanye D. Jones along with John Andrejack, Dean of Students and Student Association Advisor for comment on the issue, however they have not provided such.
As of 8 PM on Oct. 10th, Student Association held a student senate meeting to confirm the contents of the original “minutes.” TKN questions the actions of Student Association, as had they not been aware of our possesion of the meeting minutes, the resultant student senate meeting would not have taken place. Furthermore, TKN inquires into the knowledge student senators have regarding their responsibilities as elected members of the QC student body. [Editor’s Note: See Article II Sections 1 & 5, Article III Section 4, Article VIII Section 3-A]
TKN would like to further inquire about the possible fabrication of said meeting minutes, as the contents provided call into question the validity of the Student Association’s work throughout the current, and prior administrations, both run by Japneet Singh.
Moving forward, The Knight News, aiming to serve the QC community to pursue truths that may be hidden, obstructed or otherwise unknown, would like to know why these meeting minutes were possibly fabricated, and what the Office of Student Development and Leadership plans to do to address the issue. Student Association abides by the saying, “Students serving students,” however potentially falsifying meeting minutes calls this motto into question. TKN will be awaiting any further decisions and actions made regarding the minutes and their context.
