A petition asking for the resignation of Temple Student Government President Aron Cowen-Luehrmann was released early this morning on a Twitter account using the handle “@ResignTSG.”
The anonymous petition criticizes Cowen, saying “[he] proved through [his] conduct and judgement, that [he] cannot faithfully execute the duties of [his] role.” It also claims “abuse of power.”
The petition specifically cites an incident on March 20, 2017 at a session of Parliament, where Cowen made an unannounced appearance. “No executive, elected or not, should have the right of access to any session of Parliament where they arrive unannounced to forward their own agenda, swaying the votes and the free minds of the members of Parliament while intentionally perverting the legislative process and undermining checks and balances in the constitution,” reads the petition.
But the current Temple Student Government Constitution allows the TSG President to sit in on meetings “Serving as an ex-officio member with speaking and introducing rights on any and all Parliament meetings, be they full or committee…”
If Cowen were to step down from his post as President, Kelly Dawson, Vice President of Services, would take over according to the Presidential Succession noted in the Temple Student Government Constitution Article III (The Executive Branch).
Temple Update reached out to both Connecting TU and Activate TU for a comment regarding the petition. Both campaigns declined to comment.
Cowen responded to the petition Sunday, telling Temple Update, in part, “I am doing everything I can to ensure the continuing success and growth of Temple Student Government and the Parliament. I have upheld the highest levels of integrity in doing so, and look forward to continuing to serve Temple students.”
Before the petition was posted Sunday morning, Activate TU was @ResignTSG’s only twitter follower.
Representatives from Activate TU told Update, in part, “all of our social media accounts follow multiple people, and we believe this account slipped through the cracks during our online outreach. None of the candidates, nor anyone on our campaign team, purposefully followed this account.”
TSG Administrative and Parliamentary elections are Tuesday and Wednesday.
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