The Oregon Student Association Board of Directors will discuss recalling chairwoman Rachel Pilliod from her leadership position on the board at the group’s monthly meeting on Saturday.
Pilliod, who is also the University’s ASUO president, represents more than 70,000 students statewide as OSA chairwoman, and is now fighting to defend herself against allegations of political partisanship and disregarding the OSA’s bylaws.
“She’s not a fan of following the rules,” board member and Oregon State University Student Body President Bridget Burns said. “I don’t think she understands the weight of her position and the privilege she has.”
Burns, who is spearheading the charge to remove Pilliod from her leadership position, said she has secured support to recall Pilliod from at least four OSA-member schools, which include the seven Oregon University System schools and Lane Community College.
Pilliod said she’s not worried about a
possible recall.
“I’m confident I’ll be board chair for the rest of the year,” she said.
At least one OSA representative must support the motion for a recall. If a motion is put into writing and given to each OSA member, the group will have one month to decide on a course of action.
A recall vote would only pass if it garnered at least a two-thirds vote. If Pilliod was recalled, she would still retain her position as one of OSA’s 16 voting members, but would not be allowed to serve the remainder of her term as chairwoman.
The ASUO president said she appreciated the “strong personalities” and different perspectives of board members, but questioned the timing of the recall.
“I think it’s important to hold student leaders accountable,” she said. However, “whatever conversations take place this weekend, the thing that needs to be prioritized is we students need to be united. This is one of the worst legislative sessions we’ve ever faced.”
But Pilliod is likely to meet with a divided OSA board Saturday. While Southern Oregon University member Danielle McNeill was strongly in support of the chairwoman, Portland State University member and likely Pilliod-supporter Miriam Gonzales would not clearly state her opinion. Western Oregon University representative Gregg Magnus said it was too early in the process to take a firm stance on the issue. In contrast, Oregon Institute of Technology representative Ben Haines said while he didn’t know enough about the issue to take an immediate position, he’d talked to several board members who were seeking Pilliod’s removal from
the chair.
Eastern Oregon University representative Mike Freese said several members were considering suspending OSA bylaws and taking a vote on the recall at Saturday’s meeting instead of waiting a month. He added that he’d also heard talk of impeaching Pilliod, which would remove her entirely from the OSA.
Several issues have been brought up by Burns and bandied about by OSA members. First, at a Democratic rally in October at the University, Pilliod clearly identified herself as ASUO president before the crowd of several thousand University students and community members.
“As far as Rachel as a person, I really like her, but I’m not sure if that rally was a good idea in her position,” Freese said.
Article I of the OSA bylaws states that the organization cannot “participate in or intervene in any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.” Board members may interpret Pilliod’s appearance at the October rally as taking part in a political campaign, even though she has participated in get-out-the-vote events for both Republicans and Democrats throughout the year.
Secondly, Pilliod and ASUO State Affairs Director Adam Petkun were both present at a December OSA hiring committee meeting, in spite of rules which stipulate that only one member from each school can make up the hiring committee. However, Article III, Section 4 of the bylaws allows the chair to act as a non-voting member of any OSA committee except the Executive Committee. Pilliod left the meeting early and therefore didn’t vote.
Finally, Burns said Pilliod changed the location and
date of an OSA board meeting without giving 10 days notice, which stopped several members from attending and is a violation of Article V, Section B of the bylaws.
“It was a simple mistake, but her intentions were good,” McNeill said.
Burns said she can’t stand by and let Pilliod break any more rules.
“There’s little things that have just added up. I think Rachel is an incredible woman, but I’m not there to be her friend — I’m here to be her colleague.”