USG senator has pay suspended, keeps position
After three hours of deliberation on Wednesday night, the Undergraduate Student Government Senate voted against removing Commuter Sen. Jacob Ellenhorn from his position, but elected to suspend his stipend for the remainder of his time in office, according to a statement released by USG late Thursday night.
Ellenhorn will be allowed to finish out his term as Senator — set to end on April 1 — but will be denied the final $250 installment of his stipend.
“Ultimately, while the Senate did not impeach Senator Ellenhorn, they wish to express that his actions were inappropriate and irresponsible as a Senator in the USC Undergraduate Student Government,” the statement said.
Not enough Senators voted for the outright removal of Ellenhorn, but the majority agreed that his actions warranted disciplinary action, the statement said.
The impeachment hearing was held after Program Board Executive Director Diana Jiménez filed a formal complaint earlier this month against Ellenhorn, alleging that he acted contrary to his responsibility as USG senator and violated USG bylaws.
The statement said that three possible infractions were discussed by the Senate in regards to Ellenhorn: mishandling meetings with students, bringing speakers to campus that made for an unhealthy campus environment and improper use of filming at Program Board events.
The senators came to the decision that Ellenhorn did not follow established protocol when holding meetings he had promised with students that did not feel properly represented by the Women’s Student Assembly, and that he had violated the USC Code of Ethics when bringing controversial speakers, such as conservative writer Milo Yiannopoulos, to campus.
The senators decided that Ellenhorn violated USG Code of Ethics Section 5 by filming a Program Board event that “he intended to vilify, as it does not contribute to a respectful environment at the University,” according to the statement.
The Senate released their decision 24 hours following the conclusion of the hearing, as was outlined in their bylaws.
“The Senators hope this decision serves as model [sic] for the whole organization to promote intellectually diverse dialogue without partisan bias and alienation,” the statement said.
Shame on USC’s Undergraduate Student Government for taking any action against Senator Ellenhorn. It has been my observation for years that the liberal mantra of tolerance and inclusion extends only to those who agree with them, as any other opinion is quickly vilified, marginalized, mischaracterized, or “impeached”.
In the good-cop/bad-cop world of politics, Democrats have always been the good cops who will coddle you and tell you exactly what you want to hear. They are the feel good party with little conviction beyond “whatever works for you”. Republicans have always been the bad cops that have to remind you of the ugly but important truths we’d rather forget. Republicans are like the parent that believes true love often includes being told “no”. For these and many reasons, Republicans have always been a minority unto themselves…. the road less traveled. Democrats and liberals have always found a particularly welcoming platform in our nation’s universities, and for this reason alone, it is absolutely critical that the USG protect a conservative voice such as Jacob’s. Jacob’s conservative positions on critical issues of our time deserve to be heard, and his valuable contribution to the USG should be protected… not impeached.
I’ve noticed that Democrats tend to get the benefit of people who simply don’t care about any given issue. This is because their message is always so appealing on the surface. People who are uninformed or don’t care will probably vote Democrat. On the other hand, Republicans have to earn their votes. Republicans may be contrarians, but their positions are not “extreme” or “hateful” as Democrats would have you believe.
There is nothing hateful or extreme about insisting people come to this country legally, or face deportation if they don’t. It’s not hateful or extreme to suggest building a border wall where illegal immigration continues almost unabated. We build walls and fences around our homes and communities all the time. Good fences make good neighbors.
There is nothing hateful or extreme about insisting people use the bathroom of their gender, regardless of how they “feel”. It’s not radical to remind people that gender is indeed a binary system that is, with the rarest of exceptions, identified at birth. It is not hateful or extreme to remind people that in reality one can not change their gender… despite dressing in drag, changing their name, or having multiple elective surgeries.
Their is nothing hateful or extreme about suggesting that the only way to truly be fair, unbiased and non-discriminatory is to insist that things like college admission or Oscar nominations be merit based… and that it is unfair, counterproductive, and typically misleading to suggest racism is at work every time a minority is under-represented.
There remains a lot of injustice in our world, but silencing the intelligent, reasoned and often correct voice of conservatives is not the answer. The Left is responsible for a tremendous over-correction in its sincere but often misguided attempt to address injustice. Democrats have moved from the reasonable notions of tolerance and acceptance, to celebration and promotion. It is critical that the minority voice of politics be heard. I am glad that Jacob Ellenhorn was not removed from his position on the USG at USC, but it is discouraging to see that the purported goals of “intellectually diverse dialogue” and bipartisanship are apparently empty and meaningless.