Student Senate voted not to remove business manager Eric Hopfensperger a week after receiving notification of the intent to terminate and recall from Sen. Nathan Wait.

Photograph by Emily Yttri
Student Senate business manager Eric Hopfensperger views a projector screen displaying the terms of his disciplinary probation at the March 31 meeting. Hopfensperger was not recalled after five charges were filed against him.

For Hopfensperger to be recalled, the Senate would have to vote in favor of recall and have the vote pass with a 2/3 majority. Sixteen of the 30 members present voted in favor of the recall.

“Going in, I was completely unsure,” Hopfensperger said. “It was a coin toss.”

There were five charges listed in the argument to recall presented by Wait. The charges were failure to fulfill duties as business manager, failure to fulfill duties as a senator, gross excess of meeting absences, failure to attend Academic Staff Senate meetings and attempted collusion regarding the 2008 Student Governance elections.

Wait said Hopfensperger’s absences and failure to provide a detailed financial report each month contributed to charges of failure to fulfill duties.

Hopfensperger did not contest the absences but attributed some to personal reasons, such as illness, a funeral, exams and a trip to China. He also said he thought the collusion charge could have been investigated more.

“I was very confused about it and displeased that it happened while I was out of the country,” Hopfensperger said.

Wait and Hopfensperger were each allowed five minutes to present their cases. Senators who wanted to speak were allowed two minutes for input. Wait said the proceedings were efficiently run.

“I think it was balanced on both sides,” Wait said.

Some senators had strong feeling regarding the charges and proceedings.

“I do not believe anyone should deceive the student body if they cannot fulfill a position they are running for,” Sen. Kevin Opgenorth said.

“There is no adequate defense that Hopfensperger could present even if he wanted to,” Jordan O’Connell, special affairs coordinator, said. “We as a Senate must make an example of Hopfensperger.”

Hopfensperger said he still intends to run for Student Senate president. If elected, Hopfensperger said he is unsure if he would be enrolled as a student during the spring semester if he were eligible to graduate in December.

“That’s hard for me to say right now,” Hopfensperger said.

After this semester, Hopfensperger needs only one class to be eligible to graduate. Also, he is scheduled to depart for his tour of duty with the U.S. Navy on Aug. 26. He applied for a change in his military occupational specialty and a later departure date.

Wait said he will not be bringing forward any new charges against Hopfensperger.

“I feel like I did my duty in bringing the charges forward,” Wait said. “The Senate got to decide.”