THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, March 4, 1996 TAG: 9603040033
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER AND GARY KEFFER, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 101 lines
Old Dominion University students last week launched a petition drive, backed by some campus leaders, to oust student president Chris Pearson because they say his grade point average doesn't meet the requirements for the job.
``It seems to me Chris has abused the trust of the student body,'' said senior James Hunt, photo editor of The Laureate yearbook, who is spearheading the drive. ``He never qualified for the job when he was inaugurated.''
Last April, when students elected Pearson, they also approved an amendment to the Student Senate constitution raising the cumulative GPA required for senate officers from a 2.0 - or a C - to a 2.5 - or slightly above a C-plus. Pearson had a 2.06 at the time.
Critics, such as Hunt, say that under the constitution, the changetook effect immediately and that Pearson was subject to it. But Pearson says the students proposing the amendment told him it wouldn't apply to him. Last month, the Student Senate voted to exempt Pearson from the amendment.
``I haven't done anything wrong,'' said Pearson, noting that his GPA was listed on the ballot. ``My only crime is that I was elected to office. . . . I don't want to play these political games. There's enough of that outside of school. Our issues are parking, tuition, safety.''
The petition is asking Pearson to pay back the $5,600 scholarship - which comes from tuition revenue - that he gets as president. It is being supported by other student leaders, including the general manager of the WODU radio station. The student newspaper, the Mace & Crown, said Pearson ``should not hold office'' in a recent editorial.
But Pearson says the drive may be an attempt to strike back at the Student Senate for proposing cuts in funding for big student groups next year. Currently, six organizations - including the yearbook, WODU, the senate and the Mace - get $140,000 of the $180,000 that the senate allots to student groups, senate vice president Jeffrey Rowley said.
``It makes no sense to me that two-thirds of the budget is going to six organizations when we have 200'' student groups, Pearson said. ``. . . We're being attacked for freeing up some of the money for smaller organizations.''
He cited the Monarch Dance Team, which now doesn't get funding. When the group was selected for a national competition, it went to the senate for help. But because so much money was tied up in the big organizations, he said, the senate could allot only $100.
The controversy about Pearson's qualifications comes only a few months after ODU raised admissions standards to attract better students. But administrators are refusing to get involved in this debate.
``I think this is a student governance matter,'' said Dana D. Burnett, vice president for student services. ``It wouldn't be appropriate for the administration to become involved in that. . .
``That would be sending the wrong message to students: If you don't like a decision that the governance body makes . . . you can somehow abandon the (Student Senate) process and get the decision you want.''
Elsewhere in Hampton Roads, Norfolk State and Christopher Newport universities each require student presidents to have an overall 2.5 average. Virginia Wesleyan College requires a 2.0.
At ODU, students have expressed mixed reactions to the drive to oust Pearson. Junior Jason Gillette said Pearson deserves to finish his term. ``I think they're just looking for something to pick about,'' he said.
But senior Steve Mannix said: ``Students have a real sense of fair play. When they see someone getting ahead unfairly, they do not like it. . . They're seeing that instead of being reprimanded or having to pull up his grades, he's getting a free slide.''
Another senior, Erin Cullipher, said ideally, job performance is more important than grades for student leaders. For example, she said, ``if the head of WODU doesn't have a 4.0, that doesn't matter to me. I want this person to be good at what they do.''
Pearson, a senior majoring in marketing and information systems, said his overall average has climbed to a 2.4. In the past three semesters, he said, he has gotten above a 2.5.
``I don't feel my grades are that bad,'' he said. ``. . . I think my extracurricular activities really compensate for them.'' At ODU, Pearson has been vice president of the Interfraternity Council, president of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and a member of the Pi Sigma Epsilon marketing fraternity.
Pearson was shot in the neck in 1993 during a robbery attempt at an automated teller machine near campus. He spent nearly a year recovering at his parent's Northern Virginia home before returning to school.
Hunt said he started the petition campaign only after learning about the dispute over the constitutional amendment in the Mace last month. He said he was not motivated by the senate's proposal to reallocate money for student groups and doesn't even know Pearson. But he added: ``They're cutting funds used for students, and they're making life in general a very big hassle at ODU,'' because of the uncertainty about next year's budget.
To bring the petition to the senate, Hunt must get the signatures of 1 percent of the student body, or about 175. As of Friday, he said he had 120. A majority of the Student Senate then must vote to begin impeachment proceedings, and a two-thirds vote in the senate is needed to remove the president.
If there's anything that Pearson, his opponents and administrators agree on, it's that the petition could help revive an apathetic student body. ``That's part of why you go to college - to be a responsible citizen,'' said Burnett, the vice president at ODU. ILLUSTRATION: Chris Pearson: ``My only crime is that I was elected to
office.''
by CNB