The Student Senate was unable to override Student Body President Lavar Henderson’s veto of a resolution calling for the LSU administration to protect student organizations on campus.
The Senate convened for a special session Monday to discuss Henderson’s veto, his only of the semester. Ultimately, the body was four senators short of reaching quorum, making it unable to vote to override the veto. Speaker Ethan Elmer said the Senate will not meet again to discuss the veto.
The resolution urged LSU President Wade Rousse and Executive Vice President and Chancellor Jim Dalton to “protect student organizations on campus, despite differences in views, opinions and goals.” It passed in the Senate unanimously earlier this month.
Henderson critiqued the resolution’s language in his veto letter, saying it was too broad and beyond the scope of SG’s authority. He also noted a lack of consultation with student groups and a potential risk the resolution could pose to student financial aid.
Carly Minor, the senator that authored the vetoed legislation, defended her resolution as a call for First Amendment protection Monday.
“It is these rights that the Senate body voted unanimously to protect at sine die,” Minor said. “I hope it is not these rights that were vetoed.”
Minor said she consulted with student groups like Feminists in Action and Students for a Democratic Society while writing the legislation, but the limited time before the end of the semester restricted her from working with more groups.
While Minor said she understands why the organizations she used could be seen as partisan, she noted that she reached out to other non-partisan organizations as well. She also said she would have worked with Henderson if time allowed it.
Henderson was not present at the meeting Monday, though senators expected him to attend. He declined to comment on the Senate’s response to his veto.
Humanities and Social Sciences Sen. Jack Appleton said the veto was a “disingenuous reading of the resolution” that misrepresented the legislation. He said that as a student-elected body, SG works towards making sure that everyone’s interests are represented.
College of the Music and Dramatic Arts Sen. James Williams III told the Reveille that though the veto was frustrating, they were more upset with Henderson’s reasoning than the Senate’s unsuccessful attempt to override it. The senator said they hope this does not discourage student groups from continuing to be active on campus.
Williams called Henderson’s critique about the scope of the legislation a “bad faith argument.” They said the Senate provides guidelines and requests based on the wants of students with the understanding that it cannot tell anyone on campus what to do.
Henderson issued the veto following the Senate’s final meeting of the semester. Elmer said the meeting was scheduled for Monday since it was the best chance the body could meet quorum between Thanksgiving break and the beginning of the concentrated study period Wednesday.
Earlier this month, the Senate questioned Henderson about his choice to neither sign nor veto certain pieces of legislation this semester. Henderson defended his decision to the Senate at that meeting, citing his position as the student member to the Board of Supervisors and calling the legislation he neither signed nor vetoed as “politically charged.”
Appleton, Minor and Williams challenged this stance Monday.
“I do not believe that neutrality best serves the interests of the broader student body,” Appleton said.
Williams said Henderson’s arguments demonstrated “a lack of faith” in the Student Senate more broadly.
“If we cannot urge and request administration and bodies beyond this campus to do anything, all we can do is symbolic language. And our president is saying this is symbolic language too. So if we can’t even do that and all we’re left with is symbolic language,” Williams said, “why are we here?”
