SGA senators respond to Kirkwood's allegations

Several Student Government Association senators and one former senator are infuriated with SGA President Duncan Kirkwood regarding several comments that he made to The Hornet Tribune after last week's Senate meeting.

Former Sen. Courtney Dennis as well as Senators Jasmine Smith, Deidra Williams and Raven Peterson believe Kirkwood's comments were unfair, defamatory and unwarranted.

Kirkwood's comments came after several senators posed questions that ultimately resulted in the denial of his potential appointee for SGA secretary, Amani Greer.

He said, "I can't override their decision as much as I want to, but senators like Peterson, Williams, Dennis, and a couple of other senators who just want everything to be negative. No matter what we do, they vote against it and at the same time they're not doing anything to help the situation or any situation."

Dennis feels that Kirkwood's comments were unjust and unprofessional.

"President Kirkwood made false accusations against me," he said. "His comments were false because I wasn't at the senate meeting. I was removed from the senate on Thursday which rendered me unable to attend the meeting on Thursday."

Dennis expressed his discontent with the SGA as well as the backlash that Kirkwood directed at the senators.

"I think this has been the worse administration in Alabama State University's history," Dennis said. "When you hold a certain position there is a certain way that you're supposed to carry yourself and there is a certain character that one is supposed to uphold … and trying to tear a person's character's down is childish and beneath presidential standards. The standard should start from the top and trickle down."

He believes that Kirkwood is not in a position to point fingers at senators.

"What accomplishment does he (Kirkwood) have to show," he said. "If he says the senators haven't done their jobs."

Williams feels that Kirkwood should not be upset because his proposed appointee was not qualified to serve in the position.

"We (senators) asked her several questions pertaining to the duties of the SGA secretary and she was not knowledgeable of them," she said. "I felt she wasn't qualified. She stated herself that she wasn't qualified. If she was going to come in this late in the semester why shouldn't she be trained properly? She should run in the fall and we need to appoint someone that is qualified for the job now."

Williams believes that Kirkwood's tactics to reaching the senators was libelous and that he should have used a different approach.

"As a president, he stated that he wasn't childish," Williams said. "He did use slander and tried to tear down the personal character of three of the senators. He needs to bring his thoughts to the senators if he felt a certain way."

Williams also believes that Kirkwood's statements are false due to her voting record - a record that shows her support for several proposals made by Kirkwood.

"I disagree with him saying that I bring negative feedback to the senate," she said. "That's not true, I have made several motions to get expenditures approved for activities such as the trip to Israel and an activity that RAMP is hosting."

She feels that this misinformation by Kirkwood should prompt students to be more involved in the affairs of their government.

"I want everyone to please come out to our meetings," she said. "If you do have questions, you will be heard."

Smith felt that all of Kirkwood's comments after last week's senate meetings were false.

"The only true comment that he really possessed was that we did deny her (Greer) based on her not being familiar with the duties of secretary," she said. "However, it wasn't that we were being childish in our actions to do so. We needed someone in the position who was going to be effective and execute the job."

Smith felt that Kirkwood's mentioning of persons names was out of order.

"I don't think he should have mentioned any of the senator's names," she said. "I think this was part of a personal vendetta of his."

Smith shares William's sentiments and believes students should raise their awareness and participate more in SGA.

"Students need to be aware of what's going and not just go on hearsay," she said. "Meetings are open and held every Thursday at 8:30. They (students) can come in sit and listen and hear what is going on for themselves."

She continued, "A lot of times students of ASU are not informed because they are too busy listening to what someone says," she said. "Yes, Duncan Kirkwood is the president and holds a seat of power, but the students hold more power and they need to understand that."

Peterson feels that Kirkwood's comments were directed toward situations that occurred in the past.

"He feels that I have a negative attitude and feels that I'm preventing the senate from functioning," she said. "He accredits this to my losing the SGA presidential election to him last spring."

Peterson denies this allegation and believes that Kirkwood's failure to prepare Greer consequentially resulted in her not being appointed to the SGA secretary position.

"He should have coached her or helped her prepare to at least know her duties to function as SGA secretary," Peterson said. "I feel I would have been doing the students a disservice if I had voted for her appointment."