Dear Auburn Students:
As you may know, an article titled "Case Closed" was printed in last week's issue of The Plainsman. The article addressed two Student Government Association members, Colson Smith and Kohl Weir, taking newspapers from various bins around Auburn's campus.
In the stated sanctions outlined in last week's article, there were discrepancies that I feel require clarification in an effort to respect the Student Discipline Process through which the sanctions were determined. The sanctions that have been agreed upon by the charging parties and have been signed by both Colson and Kohl are as follows:
1. "You must write a letter of apology to The Plainsman for removing multiple copies of the August 28 issue from campus bins." This letter has been written, submitted, and printed by The Plainsman in the October 23, 2014 issue.
2. "You are required to pay $417.00 in restitution to The Plainsman by December 5, 2014, for costs associated with the missing papers." This payment has been agreed upon by Colson and Kohl and is due by the end of the fall academic semester. (Please note that the $417.00 is to be paid by each individual, totaling $834.00)
3. "The charging parties will recommend to SGA that they review your status as a leader within the organization because of your involvement in the incident and how poorly it reflects on the organization." This process was completed on Wednesday, October 29, 2014. Upon careful review and their fulfillment of the two sanctions outlined above, I have determined Colson and Kohl to be members in good standing within the organization.
Beyond the sanctions, there are two additional corrections I would like to make:
* The article states that one of the three imposed sanctions is to "allow Student Conduct to make a recommendation to Powell for Smith and Weir to resign from their SGA positions." Please note that this is not factual and cannot be found in the agreed upon and signed sanctions above.
* The article implies multiple times that Colson and Kohl have been charged and found guilty of theft. Please note that the charge of the Student Discipline Process was "misuse of property," not theft.
While the Student Discipline Process states that the incident was an individual act by both Colson and Kohl, I do realize that their actions reflect on the Student Government Association as a whole. I would like to make it clear that our organization does not condone or endorse this type of behavior, however, seeing that both Colson and Kohl have successfully completed the Student Discipline Process and have accepted the imposed sanctions, I believe the matter is resolved.
Thank you for your time.
Logan Powell
President, Student Government Association
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