Benito Garcia-Garcia is an SGA Senator. The story was co-reported with Nate Hadley and with technical assistance from Jessica Posa.
WCU SGA president, David Rhode, was elected Spring 2019. Prior to that election he was serving as a senator and faced two impeachments from that position. Photo from WCU SGA website.
The Student Government Association’s (SGA) president, David Rhode, faces allegations including sexual harassment, abuse of power in various instances, conduct unbecoming and neglect of duty. An impeachment hearing will take place on Monday, Dec. 2 during the SGA Senate meeting at 6 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room at the University Center (UC).
The senate meeting is public but the deliberation by the senators will be in closed session.
President Rhode will defend himself in front of SGA’s Senate, where evidence and testimonies will be heard from both sides. The impeachment hearing will include opening statements from Chief Justice Katilyn Alston and President Rhode; the calling and questioning of witnesses from Alston, Rhode, and the Senate. Evidence will also be provided during this time, and closing remarks from both Alston and Rhode will be heard. Senate will then move into closed session for deliberation where only senators, SGA advisors, WCU’s legal counsel, and the gatekeeper will be allowed to remain in the room. Mary Ann Lochner, appointed by the Dean of Students, will serve as the gatekeeper – which ensures that integrity is kept throughout the process and that the SGA constitution and bylaws are being followed. The vote will be cast as a secret ballot and closed session will expire. The vote, as to whether Rhode will continue to hold office or not, will be made public and announced by Lochner.
Rhode has the option of submitting a resignation letter to an SGA advisor by 1 p.m. on Dec. 2 to avoid the hearing.
SGA Senator Fiona Buchanan, one of the four authors of the impeachment articles, discussed the allegations with WCJ in detail. Although the document itself is not public until Dec. 2, Buchanan did not hold back as to the content of the document. She claims Rhode violated the SGA constitution and bylaws numerous times.
We talked to SGA senators that had many examples and instances where they think Rhode violated the rules and bylaws of the organization also.
We reached out to President Rhode for an interview, but he declined. He offered to write a press release but ultimately decided not to. He referred us to his attorney, Douglas Pearson, who at the time of publishing this story has not responded.
What happened?
According to Buchanan, in the articles of impeachment Rhode is accused of breaching three out of four instances that can lead to any SGA member’s impeachment: conduct unbecoming, abuse of power, and neglect of duty.
- Sen. Buchanan and Sen. Zachary Daniels spoke about the right-wing organization Turning Point USA (TPUSA) and how they believe President Rhode benefiting from it is an impeachable offense. They believe that during campaign season in spring 2019, then-candidate Rhode had received a monetary donation from TPUSA.
- According to Buchanan, Rhode attended a conference hosted by TPUSA in Washington DC over the summer. Buchanan claims he was advised by unspecified upper administration not to attend but did anyway. Rhode attempted to use the conference as part of his required hours of work. Buchanan said this is bribery because the organization paid for his hotel stay, food and entrance to the conference.
- Rhode allegedly threatened to fire the Director of Community Engagement, Erica McCurdy, if she spoke about a private meeting they had. However, the office of the president does not have the authority to remove someone from the executive cabinet, only through an impeachment process in which Senate ultimately decides. We reached out to McCurdy but declined to comment on this matter.
- Buchanan claims that Rhode fell asleep in three different events where he was either representing the university or SGA. Those three events were the Sustainability conference at Appalachian State University, the dedication ceremony of the Levern Hamlin Allen Hall, and at the Association of Student Governments (ASG) hosted at East Carolina University.
- Buchanan alleges that President Rhode made inappropriate remarks to the Chief of Staff and her boyfriend, Patrick Clemons. Allegedly, in a private meeting, President Rhode accused Chief of Staff Clemons’ behavior and thoughts on SGA to be influenced by Sen. Buchanan through sexual relations.“David Rhode was fully aware that I knew about this and was personally offended because I felt … slandered … I have received no apology from David Rhode himself,” Buchanan said.
Hear more details on the accusations from Senator Fiona Buchanan. Video edited by Jessica Posa.
SGA senators speak out
WCJ talked with two additional senators who talked about Rhode, his past conduct and his impeachment.
“I definitely think there are grounds for impeachment,” said the Clerk of the Senate, Sen. Susannah Lester. Lester aired some grievances she had with Rhode claiming that he talks down to senators. “He acts like we don’t understand what he is saying.”
According to Lester, the president has been asked to only come to senate meetings if completely necessary, such as appointing members to the executive cabinet. According to Lester, one of the reasons for this was because he intimidates members of the Senate.
“I can see how some of the things he says can come across as intimidating,” Lester commented.
She also claimed that Rhode would invite new senators in for meetings, which could be described as “a request to comply” with his wishes.
Buchanan and Daniels spoke about some concerns they had regarding Rhode’s performance as president. On Nov. 25, during a senate meeting we were present at, Rhode admitted to not fully understanding his power as president. He believed that he possessed a “pocket-veto” if he did not sign a resolution in 14 days, but instead, the president possesses a “pocket-pass,” and he admitted that he intended to use this power to veto a resolution and was surprised to find that it was passed.
Sen. Kasson Mitchell spoke about another incident.
“SGA had decided to work with Miracle for a tailgate, and he was supposed to be there. He was not there. He was actually at Sigma Alpha Epsilon on the back of their red truck partying. So, another senator at the time saw him and pulled him off the truck and brought him over to the table … he was drunk as s—. … It was highly embarrassing,” Mitchell recalled.
This is not the first time for Rhode to go through the process of impeachment. Last year as a senator, Rhode had articles of impeachment filed against him twice. He was not removed from office for the first filing and resigned before the second hearing could begin as he was elected student body president. Daniels said that Rhode resigning as a senator before being sworn in as president was a calculated choice because SGA policy states that anyone impeached and removed from office cannot serve as a member of SGA again.
Both Lester and Daniels mentioned that this year’s case for impeachment is much stronger than the allegations brought against Rhode last year. They both believe that the parties filing for impeachment the first-time last year had personal bias fueling their actions.
How does the SGA impeachment process work?
SGA adopted a new system of impeachment in September 2019 through a resolution written by Sen. Tristan Benson and Assistant General Counsel, TJ Eaves. There are four offenses for anyone in SGA to be impeached.
- Abuse of Power
- Neglect of Duty
- Fraudulent Misrepresentation
- Conduct Unbecoming
The resolution passed with 38 votes from the Senate and was signed by both the president and vice president. The process in which an impeachment proceeding takes place can be read in the F19-03 Impeachment Resolution.
If President Rhode is impeached and removed from office, Vice-President Dawson Spencer will assume the presidency. WCJ will continue to follow the process.
