The Duke Student Government Judiciary held a hearing Monday night, following allegations that junior Justin Robinette was impeached as chair of the Duke College Republicans because he is gay. As of 5 a.m. Tuesday, the Judiciary had not reached a verdict in its more than 10-hour meeting.
College Republicans could lose its charter if the Judiciary rules that the club violated its constitution. Robinette formally resigned from his position as chair of the College Republicans April 15 and filed a complaint with the Judiciary shortly thereafter.
The Judiciary chose not to split up the proceedings so that associate justices could have the case material “fresh in their minds” and maintain confidentiality, said Chief Justice Matthew Straus, a sophomore. Straus recused himself from the hearing because he attended last week’s College Republicans meeting in which Robinette was impeached.
As of now, the case will remain in student hands, University administrators said, citing Duke’s tradition of student self-government.
Associate Justice Carissa Mueller, a junior, presided over the hearing and will vote on a ruling with three other justices.
Robinette could not be reached for comment Monday or early Tuesday morning.
Monday’s hearing was only open to those who provided testimony, Straus said. In total, the Judiciary heard testimony from 22 individuals, and both sides presented evidence to the Judiciary separately. Based on his past experience, Straus said the majority of the evidence would likely be in the form of e-mails, constitutional amendments and resolutions.
“We were just showing our reasons behind the impeachment and our reasons had nothing to do with Justin’s sexuality,” said junior Rachel Provost, College Republicans chief of staff who testified at the hearing. “Most of us had known about this for months before that.”
The articles of impeachment maintain that Robinette was removed from office because he had “repeatedly failed in his capacities as chair.” Among other charges, Robinette was accused of mishandling group endorsements, fixing internal elections, neglecting to coordinate events with the College Republicans at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and exhibiting unbecoming conduct.
Because they had attended key meetings of the College Republicans executive board, Straus and senior Spencer Eldred, DSG vice president for student affairs, served as neutral parties and offered testimony at the end of proceedings.
Straus said he felt the College Republicans impeachment meeting April 14 was conducted in an inappropriate manner.
“To have me as a guest and have a meeting like that in front of me as a guest, I asked, ‘Aren’t you embarrassed?’” Straus said in a interview early Tuesday morning.
Associate Justices Martin Njoroge, a junior, and Chastity Threadcraft, a senior, also recused themselves from the hearing Monday. Njoroge is Robinette’s close friend and Threadcraft was away on a prior engagement.
At 3:30 a.m., Mueller declined to comment about the possible outcomes of the proceedings, adding that she did not know enough about the case at the moment. Ultimately, the Judiciary can do essentially whatever it wants, said Associate Justice David Wang, a sophomore.
Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta said the administration is monitoring the situation and conducting its own informal conversations about the events.
The review process in this situation falls under student jurisdiction, said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations. No complaint has been filed with the Undergraduate Conduct Board, Schoenfeld confirmed Monday.
“The administration would only intervene in extraordinary circumstances if there was concern that DSG’s own processes were not being followed [or there were] safety concerns,” he said.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.