BGLTSA Impeachment Fair

To the editors:

Re "BGLTSA Vice Chair Impeached by Board" (Feb. 24): I must first register my disbelief that such a story would be given cover run when so hastily and poorly investigated.

The vote to impeach at last Sunday's board meeting was in fact 7-1 with two abstentions. Treasurer Adam A. Sofen '01, a Crimson editor, has since changed his vote to favor the impeachment of former vice chair David A. Campbell '00 (as the article stated), as has secretary Michael K. T. Tan '01. Still, Tan's initial abstention was quite valid in that he had filled that position but two weeks before and could not possibly have been expected to register judgement so hurriedly. The Board voted to accept abstentions as neither a "yes" or "no" vote, a recusal if you will, so that unanimity could be realized in subsequent motions. Nevertheless, the vote is now officially unanimous: Campbell has been impeached.

Campbell, himself the lone dissenter, has presented an absurd and tragically puny argument. It is downright common sense that when examining and eventually, if necessary, impeaching a member of an organization, said member is temporarily displaced from the examining entity (in this case, the Executive Board) in all motions related to the inquiry.

The article presented just one facet of the abundant case the Board has amassed in its audit of Campbell's administration. Throughout the semester, he proved unreliable, inefficient and apathetic to the Board's various ventures and travails. When confronted about his consistent absenteeism, he would often lash out unexpectedly with offensive language and personal attacks on other Board members. The Board had little choice but to give him repeated second chances, as we were in the process of restructuring and could not afford such an upheaval.

Campbell's flagrant lack of judgement in handling the election was somewhat of a last straw. What set the impeachment process rolling was his unfounded and utterly personal defilement of my co-chair Alena J. Williams '98, a Crimson editor, when she attempted to point out his failure to delegate a payment for our recent Moonraker ball, an action jeopardizing the association's fiscal security and our reputation. His assault was so brash and abusive that five Board members threatened resignation if the motion to impeach was not achieved.

We are confident in our decision and will continue to uphold it. Since Sunday, Campbell has wrongly sent a mass e-mail to our membership (pirating the list he once had access to as a Board member) pleading his case and calling for a proverbial "call to arms." This violation of the Student Handbook is an offense subject to the Ad Board. We hope not to resort to such retaliation, and have since sought counsel from the Dean of Students Office. It saddens us that so much time need be spent on such trivial matters when we should be furthering queer visibility and life on campus. The elections have since been nullified (with the consent of all parties involved) and new public elections will be held in the coming weeks. CHRISTIAN PHILIPPE QUILICI '01   Chair, publicity, Harvard-Radcliffe BGLTSA   Feb. 25, 1998