Trinity College Meeting passes constitutional amendment on impeachment procedure

At the sixth Trinity College Meeting (TCM) of the school year on February 4, students amended the impeachment procedure in relation to unexcused student head absences from meetings, passed a non-binding motion to support taking direct control of the Rainbow Trinity account, and discussed Trinity College’s recent adoption of U of T’s smoke-free policy.

The TCM is Trinity College’s direct-democracy student government and its highest governing student body.

The first motion of the night was moved by student Jessica Rapson, and centred on getting “non-binding support in favour of moving the Rainbow Trin account from the Bursar to the TCM” to ensure a timelier reimbursement process.

Rainbow Trinity is the college’s LGBTQ+ club.

Students have apparently had issues with contacting the Bursar, and it has been very difficult to get reimbursed.

After little discussion on the matter, the motion passed with 100 per cent in favour.

Next up on the agenda was a discussion surrounding the new U of T Smoke-Free Policy. Earlier in the meeting, Heads of Arts Michael Switzer and Heather Nichols had discussed how the Community Affairs Committee of Trinity College Senate had fully approved and adopted the policy, meaning the rules apply to Trinity College as well.

However, a student attendee felt that this policy came into effect without any input from students, and deserved more discussion.

Phoebe Rogers, the Female Head of Non-Resident Affairs, felt that it was important to support the policy so as not to encourage students to come to Trinity just to smoke. Similarly, other students argued that the policy is only meant to be educational for now, acting as a health standard, and nothing about penalization has been decided yet.

After the discussion on the Smoke-Free Policy, the meeting moved forward to the motion on selecting and re-ratifying a new Deputy Returning Officer (DRO) and Chief Returning Officer (CRO).

Maria Pepelassis and Xander Jung were chosen by the Electoral Commission to be the CRO and DRO respectively, and were re-ratified by the TCM.

Mattea Roach and Mike Morris were also elected to be the Don’s Selection Committee.

Following their election, there was a motion for a constitutional amendment of the Constitution of the Trinity College Meeting. Motioned by Emily Chu, the constitutional amendment revolved around the impeachment process of Student Heads.

According to the amendment, if a Student Head misses a meeting unexcused following a failed impeachment vote, another impeachment vote must be introduced at the next TCM.

Chu believed that this amendment was important to ensure that Student Heads do not miss too many meetings without excuses. The motion passed with 87 per cent in favour.

The meeting then moved to an in camera session. The items on the TCM agenda that had yet to be addressed before the meeting went in camera included a discussion on mental health and the upcoming elections.