The Kirby-Smith Community Council, an arm of the Residence Hall Association, voted Monday night to impeach its president, Webb Womack.
Council members claimed Womack failed to “represent the interest of the hall” and keep photos “in a proper manner.”
A doctored photo of Colter McDaniel, Kirby-Smith Council events coordinator, circulated among Kirby-Smith residents. Eric Freeman, a Kirby-Smith resident, said the photo was of “Colter’s [McDaniel] head in a confused, almost drunk look, and then from the neck down, the body was obviously ‘photoshopped.’ It was a white naked women.”
Womack told The Daily Reveille he took the photo of McDaniel that was used in the doctored photo. But he said he did not create the altered image or circulate it.
“I didn’t print the picture,” Womack said. “I had nothing to do with the picture being shown.”
McDaniel presented the charges against Womack.
Though council members told The Daily Reveille that Womack was charged with failure to maintain council photos in a “proper manner,” they would not confirm whether they impeached Womack specifically because of the photo of McDaniel.
When The Daily Reveille asked Thaddeus Richardson — who will replace Womack — whether Womack was charged because of the doctored photo, he said, “I can’t tell you directly that it is the photo, but you’re not crazy.”
Womack confirmed that the photo he took of McDaniel was the one referred to in the charges against him.
Joe Pere, a history freshman, said he saw the doctored photo of McDaniel. He said McDaniel brought the picture out while the two were smoking a cigarette outside of the Kirby-Smith dorm.
Richardson and other Kirby-Smith Council members were reluctant to reveal the specifics of the impeachment process to The Daily Reveille.
Richardson said, “We have an obligation to hold our tongues – to uphold a standard of privacy in this matter.”
McDaniel said some considered the incident a “bias-related event” but would not say who was considering that classification.
“The person I talked to said, because of the situation that was on the picture and because I’m gay, to other people it seemed biased,” McDaniel said. “I didn’t think it was bias-related.”
Kirby-Smith Residence Life Coordinator Brent Cockrell said he could not discuss any specifics of the impeachment because he has an obligation to protect the students involved. Cockrell said he could not confirm that the incident was being considered bias-related.
Cockrell said he told the council that in his opinion “it would be highly unethical and grounds for their impeachment if they discussed another student’s standing with the department.”
Cockrell said students could discuss the events of the impeachment, but they could not talk about information pertaining to procedures and investigations being conducted by Residential Life.
Cockrell said he could neither “confirm or deny” that Residential Life was investigating Womack’s actions that lead to his impeachment.
Mary Wallace, assistant director of Residential Life, would not discuss the specifics of Womack’s actions.
She said the possibility that the incidents could be a violation of student code of conduct prohibits her from talking about it.
She said if an incident is in violation of the student code of conduct, the Office of the Dean of Students would conduct an investigation.
Chris Scheuermann, a sociology freshman and member of the Kirby-Smith Community Council, said the council needs to put this behind them.
“There are positive and negative aspects, but now we can unify and move on,” Scheuermann said.
Womack said he hopes the council will continue to do things for the residents of Kirby-Smith.
“The community council of Kirby-Smith has done a good job, and this was a circus type of thing to remove a president — they were focused on something personal,” Womack said.
Womack is the second RHA official impeached this semester. Former RHA President Nathan Boudreaux was impeached in January on charges of not following the RHA constitution.