The College of William and Mary Student Assembly Senate passed the Student Money Protection Act by a vote of 16-0-1 at its meeting Tuesday.
The bill is a response to the recent discovery by student auditors that money from the Publications Council Consolidated Reserve was used to pay the salaries of two graduate assistants in the past three years.
The bill asserts that that action was a violation of the contract between the Publications Council and the SA, and that it should be considered a Class 4 Felony.
Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs Mark Constantine is alleged to be responsible for the misuse of funds.
“This was clearly an illegitimate use of funds, and arguably illegal,” Sen. Ryan Ruzic J.D. ’11, cosponsor of the bill, said. “The SA, as the people entrusted with student money, need to say it is not okay for them to do this.”
The Student Money Protection Act requests that the College conduct a full review of all student activities accounts and that the Office of Student Activities relinquishes all financial management powers until the review is complete. The bill also officially censures Constantine for illegitimate use of student money.
According to Ruzic, Constantine claimed past SA Presidents had told him this was a valid use of funds.
“Constantine has not provided any documentation of this or provided names of past presidents who spoke to him,” Ruzic said.
The bill was very briefly discussed before it was brought to a vote. All spoke in favor of the bill.
Though Constantine was present at the meeting, he left before the bill reached the floor. He could not be reached for comment.