This year’s student senate court at the University of Rhode Island promised to bring a focus on senator accountability following an absent jury last academic year, according to Head Jurist Andrew Ebrahimpour.
The student senate court functions as the third branch of the student government, paired with the legislative body of senators and the executive branch, according to the URI Student Senate Constitution . The court is composed of five jurors, one of which is the head jurist. All jurors must be internally elected by senators and the executive branch.
The court may vote to impeach or penalize senators who engage in criminal activity or fail to uphold responsibilities, according to the Student Senate Constitution.
The court has dismissed former Sens. Waseem Bahra, Clarsie Chamberlain and Arianna Pavaresh-Rizi this semester for an excess of unexcused absences.
“Those of you who were present in the senate last year know that the court did not really do anything,” Ebrahimpour said in a Sept. 25 general assembly meeting. “This court will be handling it differently.”
This year, the court will be more present, Ebrahimpour said. This presence began with holding meetings.
“I don’t think they ever met, aside from like one time last year,” Ebrahimpour said.
A different juror has been present in all general assembly meetings this semester, except the most recent. Presence in general assembly meetings is a part of upholding accountability for senators, according to Juror Sonia Reyes.
“It’s holding them accountable, because we take notes during [general assembly] too,” Reyes said. “So if they aren’t doing something, or they said ‘oh, I didn’t say that,’ we took notes.”
In addition to a lack of meetings, last year’s jury also never completed investigations following complaints, Jurist Cristian Verela said during an April 24 general assembly meeting.
Holding regular meetings and investigating all complaints is not outlined in the court’s responsibilities in the URI Student Senate Bylaws , however Ebrahimpour defines them as responsibilities of the new court.
“I kind of have a personal view that if I’m going to do a job at all, I’m going to do it right or at least how I see it as being done right,” Ebrahimpour said. “For the court, that’s actually following through with investigations, that’s actually voting on issues and that’s actually making sure that if there really, truly is something wrong going on that we catch it early.”
While accountability has become a cornerstone of the jury, they don’t intend to be ruthless, according to Ebrahimpour.
“We’re not going to be extremely unforgiving,” Ebrahimpour said in the Sept. 25 meeting regarding senator absences. “If you have something that actually comes up, let us know.”
Ebrahimpour ran for jury following his time as a senator. While he planned on stepping down from student government entirely, Ebrahimpour said student body President Argha Goswami convinced him otherwise.
In his time on the senate, Ebrahimpour served as a mental health liaison and created the position of military veteran student liaison.
Reyes was also approached by Goswami to run for jury, noting Reyes’ personal interest in politics. In terms of goals for the court, Reyes aligns with Ebrahimpour.
“We’re looking to actually do more productive things,” Reyes said.
The URI student senate office can be found in Memorial Union Room 201.