The Student Senate rejected a bill Wednesday night to expressthe disapproval of the removal of Chingy as this year’sHomecoming concert act, and refused to debate it.
The bill, presented by Arts and Sciences Sen. Alicia Calvin andEducation Sen. Maurice Gipson, said it was one individual’sactions that undermined the the work of the entire Homecomingcommittee.
The bill stated, “LSU is a very diverse institution ofhigher learning and needs different groups to perform in order tocelebrate that diversity.”
The bill also called for the University’s reconciliationwith Chingy’s booking agent, William Morris Agency.
Instead of going through the normal channels, which includesending the bill to committee and bringing it up for debate at thenext meeting, Gipson motioned for immediate consideration after abill’s introduction.
The co-authors and Homecoming committee representative RobinPenzato answered several questions from the audience explaining theChingy situation. Then, as the meeting approached the three-hourmark, the Senate voted to bypass debate on the bill, sending itstraight to a vote.
The resolution failed 17 to 13, with one abstention from SpeakerPro-Tempore Theresa Lobianco. Fourteen senators were absent fromthe meeting.
After the vote, several senators said they liked the spirit ofthe bill, but did not like the way Gipson and Calvin wrote it.
University College for Academic Counseling Sen. MelissaThompson, who voted against debating the bill, said she did notlike the bill because it pointed all the blame at HomecomingCommittee member Jenna Plaisance.
A Sept. 23 Reveille article said that after Chingy accepted abid from Homecoming committee adviser Emilia Gilbert, Plaisancecontacted University administrators warning them of the explicitlyrics of Chingy’s songs. The Homecoming Committee said theydid not want to jeopardize future University funding, so they tookit upon themselves to remove Chingy.
“I don’t agree with the bill,” Thompson said.”I don’t think the attack against her wasright.”
But Thompson said she agreed with the reconciliation withWilliam Morris, and had the bill been about that, she would havevoted for it.
Several senators agreed, saying they were in favor ofreconciling with William Morris.
University College Center for Freshmen Year Sen. Chris Odinet,who also voted “no” on debating the bill, said the billshould have been divided into two bills — one to reconcilethe relationship with William Morris, and the other to voice anyconcerns the authors had about diversity.
But, a few senators said after the vote that if the Senate wouldhave debated the bill, they could have resolved some of theconcerns.
Agriculture Sen. C.C. Dubois said she thought the bill pointedthe blame at the administration.
“I’m not going to send a bill chastising theUniversity when it was the Homecoming Committee that screwedup,” Dubois said.
But, she said what frustrated her the most is that the Senatewould not debate the issue.
Senate Speaker Brandon Smith said at the end of the meeting thathe was disappointed in the senators’ refusal to debate thebill. He told senators if they were not willing to do their jobcorrectly, they should find a new one.
“This is about debate. This is about being here,”Smith said. “I expect more from senators.”
Donald Washington, a political science junior, attended theSenate meeting to observe the process.
After the meeting, Washington said he thought the senators acted”hasty” after refusing to debate the bill.
“I don’t think they know the responsibility thatthey hold,” Washington said.