While Student Confederation President Nick Terzulli appointed Eagle Nights Director Kyle Taylor to be the acting SC vice president, it is unclear how long this appointment will last.
At Sunday's meeting of the General Assembly, AU's student body legislature, Terzulli named Taylor as his choice to replace Marguerite Meyer, who resigned as vice president effective this semester because she is only taking one class and SC executives are required to be full-time students. The vice president is in charge of student programming, such as Homecoming and the Founder's Day Ball.
In addition to being in charge of Eagle Nights, Taylor is also helping to organize the Founder's Day Ball on Feb. 21 and is the co-chairman of the Dance Marathon, which takes place later this spring.
"[Taylor] was the most logical solution in my mind," Terzulli said Sunday. "He knows exactly what needs to be done to make these things happen, as opposed to bringing in somebody else who doesn't have that background in programming."
Taylor, who is a sophomore but said he has enough credits to be a junior, said Terzulli talked with him after winter break about the appointment.
"Right now I'm just playing it by ear and just hope to keep the vice president's cabinet together," Taylor said Tuesday.
As acting vice president, Taylor would not be paid.
"He will simply do the work he's already been doing," Terzulli said Sunday.
The plan is for Taylor to stay in office until the new SC executive officers assume their offices later this spring, Terzulli said.
According to SC bylaws, a student must first be appointed to a seat in the GA before being officially installed as vice president. While Taylor is not a member of the GA, Terzulli said this was not a problem because Taylor would be an acting executive and would not be drawing pay.
However, Tome Nielsen, chairman of the Constitutional and Procedural Review Board, which determines whether SC actions are constitutional, said Taylor's appointment does not follow these regulations.
"It's specified in our constitution, which is the highest document in the SC, that he has to come from the GA," Nielsen said. Additionally, he said a 1998 ruling by the Board says there can only be acting executives during the summer.
"It's unfortunate that that wording is in there," Nielsen said. "I believe Kyle is more than qualified for the position."
Still, he said his job is to make sure regulations are followed.
"I can only work with what's written," he said.
Wednesday afternoon, Nielsen and Terzulli met with Student Activities Director Karen Gerlach and Ernie Kimlin, the Student Activities program advisor, to decide what to do after Taylor's appointment.
While the group "came up with some very viable alternatives," Nielsen said, neither he nor Terzulli would elaborate.
Nielsen said there were options that would allow Taylor to stay active in the office, but it was up to Terzulli and his cabinet to decide what to do.
Terzulli would not say when a final decision would come out. "We'll play things by ear and see how things go," he said Wednesday evening.
Taylor said Wednesday night that he did not know what was said in these discussions. In the end, he only wants programming on campus to continue.
"I just want to make sure there's someone there," he said. "It's become such a big ordeal ... I just want what's best for the Student Confederation, and hopefully they'll make the right decision."
If he is allowed to serve, Taylor is planning to work on getting more students involved in campus programming.
He said Tuesday that he was talking with the Student Activities office about holding workshops to teach students how to plan events and co-sponsor them with other student groups. He also plans to work on making it easier for clubs to co-sponsor events with the Student Union Board and Kennedy Political Union.
Ultimately, Taylor said he would like to see more students step up to run for SC vice president and apply for programs like Eagle Nights and Homecoming.
"There's very few people, I think, who feel confident and say, 'I can run for this position. I know how to program,'" he said.
