Attendees demand justice following removal of Treasurer Kalkat at Student Senate

Kalkat addressed recent events regarding her removal during the Student Speakout session of the Student Senate’s general body meeting on Wednesday. Photo by Audrianna Wilde.

On Feb. 16, Simar Kalkat was removed from her position as treasurer of the Ohio University Student Senate. However, just minutes before the general body meeting Wednesday evening, the Senate issued a press release stating the removal was void, and that Kalkat’s removal was to be voided effective immediately.

Kalkat was removed immediately from her position, which she has held since April 2021, after a two-thirds vote of no confidence from members of the Student Senate during an executive session. 

Recently resigned Chief Justice Hannah Fleming received an anonymous letter previous to the general body meeting Feb. 16, which alleged that Kalkat had used her Ohio U PCard to purchase personal plane tickets to Austin, Texas. Upon entering executive session, Fleming revealed this information to present voting members, many of whom later noted that this information played a role in their decision to vote no confidence on Kalkat’s ability to fulfill her role as treasurer.

"I put ‘disagree’ for being trusted to make financial decisions and communicating them effectively solely based off of the anonymous person who spoke of her buying plane tickets to Texas with Senate funds. Other than that, I haven’t noticed a problem with (her performance as Treasurer),” stated a member via the Google form that was used to collect votes. 

"The recent revelation of the misuse of discretionary funding by the treasurer is troubling, and I would like to see the issue more transparently on the floor of the body of the senate," another member commented. 

The Google form asked members of the Senate to evaluate the performance and conduct of the Senate’s executive officers. Members were asked to vote “yay” if they believed that the executive officer in question was unfit and should be removed from office and “nay” if they believed the opposite to be true. A minimum of two-thirds vote of the members present is required to remove a member from their position. 

The results for the vote on the Treasurer were declared 11 yays and 4 nays, triggering Kalkat’s removal immediately following the announcement of the count. However, at the beginning of this senate meeting, 18 members were said to be present, but three had to leave due to outside obligations. The vote was held with the remaining 15 members. No advisors were present during this session. 

As mentioned in a previous press release issued by the Student Senate, the body’s constitution, along with the rules and procedures, stated that removal based on a vote of no confidence is final, and therefore Kalkat was unable to appeal the removal.

The expenses for the plane tickets Kalkat allegedly purchased, amounting to around $328, first appeared in January in a charge from Concur, an online system that Ohio U utilizes which allows organizations to make travel arrangements, submit travel expense reports and update PCard transactions. 

Kalkat reached out in an email to Finance Customer Care and cc’d Graduate Advisor Nathaniel Padilla to the email on Jan. 19 to resolve the issue. Kalkat is also a member of Ohio U’s Select Leadership development program in the College of Business, and stated in an interview she believed the expense was tied to a trip to Austin that members of the program were supposed to go on. Kalkat said the expense was removed the next day and rerouted to Tammy Reynolds, Kalkat’s advisor for Select Leaders.

Tim Reynolds, director of Select Leaders, said at Wednesday’s Student Senate meeting the ticket was not purchased by Kalkat. 

“I want you to know that this airline ticket was not purchased by her, it was inadvertently put on her PCard. She notified us immediately on that and we seek out proper counsel from the people that are responsible for it,“ Reynolds said, adding that accidental PCard charges have been a problem before, not with students, but with faculty.

Kalkat noted that she did not notify Senate members of the issue. 

“There was no transfer of funds, so I didn't need to relay that message to anyone, right? I mean, think about it, like a small clerical error like that…it was a little bit trivial,” Kalkat said in an interview.

Several members of Kalkat’s business fraternity, Alpha Kappa Psi, showed up to Wednesday’s meeting in support of Kalkat. Photo by Audrianna Wilde.

Subsequent to her removal from office, Kalkat took to Instagram, where she posted a string of posts on her story which weighed in on the recent events. Kalkat told followers about the false allegations and urged people to attend the upcoming general body meeting to support her.

“I was unjustifiably removed from my position and to be quite frank I don't care that resolution or whatever that statement was, is void. The defamation, the embarrassment, the humiliation that I have faced over the past week – Nobody would want to go through that,” Kalkat said at the meeting. “My name was being defamed all throughout the articles, posts, people messaging me screenshots being circulated saying that I mishandle university funds. How dare you? How dare you?”

At Student Senate’s Wednesday meeting, students, alumni and current Senate members voiced their opinions and grievances regarding the Senate’s improper handling of the accusations against Kalkat and the events that followed her removal from the body. People filled the seats of room 235 in Walter Hall in support of Kalkat, at the Student Speakout session which lasted for over four hours. 

The meeting began with several testimonials from members of the audience to Kalkat’s hardworking character and the care she has consistently shown underrepresented and minority communities at Ohio U. 

Richard Danylo, an alum and former Student Senate member, said during his time in the Student Senate, Kalkat “displayed nothing short of dignity and professionalism,” adding that she holds her position “with an impactful display of leadership.”

Minority Association for Pre-health Students Member Madison Wilson testifies to Kalkat’s outreach with regard to her minority constituents and their organizations. Photo by Audrianna Wilde.

Those who spoke out additionally stated that they were upset with her removal, not only because it could harm her future career goals, but because it was detrimental to the success of those communities that she had diligently worked with since other Senate members had failed in reaching out to them.

Black Affairs Commissioner Trinity Robinson speaks to the character of Kalkat. Photo by Audrianna Wilde.

“Not only was (Kalkat’s removal) the removal of someone who I believe was qualified to be in the role they were elected into, but there was a removal of a connection to multiple underrepresented communities within Ohio University,” Black Affairs Commissioner Trinity Robinson said. 

Many members of the audience pointed to the demographics of the Senate, which is majority white. Crowd members stated that, despite other excuses the Senate may have had for the behavior that was exhibited during and after the vote of no confidence, by not allowing Kalkat to defend herself against the accusations held against her, the Senate was inherently racist, pointing to the fact that Kalkat is a woman of color and the “toxic” culture of Student Senate as playing a major role in her removal.

President of the NAACP chapter at Ohio U Odessa Robinson addresses the Senate’s lack of diversity. Photo by Audrianna Wilde.

“This is the result of when there is a lack of diversity with students in power,” President of the NAACP chapter at Ohio U Odessa Robinson said. 

"There are many former student senators here who are no longer in the organization for a reason,” Courtney Archibald, former student senator for the College of Fine Arts, added. 

On her Instagram story and in an interview, Kalkat claimed that SAC Vice Commissioner of Operations and Senator for Off Campus Affairs Chandler Jent, Senator for the Honors Tutorial College Rhyan Goodman and former Academic Affairs Commissioner Dylan DeMonte attempted to stage a “coup” on her, as they allegedly asked, and received, the number of Kalkat’s violation points from the Chief of Staff Celine Freetage. This would be a violation of the Rules and Procedures and confidentiality rules.

Kalkat said in an interview that, during an interaction with Chandler Jent, he allegedly stated that the former Chief of Justice Hannah Fleming told him about former Judicial Panel referrals that Kalkat had received. 

“They can't be disclosing stuff like that,” said Kalkat. Under the Rules and Procedures, members of the Judicial Panel are prohibited from discussing judicial referrals and the details of these referrals.

Calls for the Judicial Panel to begin investigations on the Senate members who violated the Rules and Procedures were made by members of the audience. 

Courtney Archibald, former student senator for the College of Fine Arts, sits among the audience with a sign reading “#FREESIM STOP YOUR WITCH HUNT.” Photo by Audrianna Wilde.

“The anonymous tips that were sent were a part of this entire calculated process that I know people spent hours with their office hours, their position office hours spent developing this process to make sure that I was not in the room, that the recording was off, that the adviser was not present, to make that vote,” Kalkat alleged at the meeting.

Some members of the crowd expressed their disapproval of the behaviors that Kalkat exhibited on social media, stating that her actions led to a slew of hate messages directed towards members of Student Senate and the Judicial Panel. However, others pointed out that, had Kalkat not taken to social media, the issue would have been “swept under the rug.”

Fleming resigned following the voiding of the vote of no confidence. 

“Despite what some people on social media may claim, I am very much aware of my morals, values, and motives and am very proud of all of the hard work I have put forth. I also believe that members of the Judicial Panel and certain members of the Senate are able to understand this and would say that the recent attacks on my character are unfounded,” Fleming said in her resignation speech, moments before leaving the meeting.

Robinson said, “I do not condone the harassment or threats or anything of that nature. I'm sorry that people were mean to you, but she (Simar Kalkat) was racially targeted. That is what matters, not your white fragility.”

Kalkat pulls out the Rules and Procedures while addressing the Senate. Photo by Audrianna Wilde.

Kalkat, along with the audience, demanded Student Senate become more transparent with its constituents, citing that many of the documents utilized by the body are widely inaccessible to the layperson due to their excessive use of jargon. They demanded members of the Senate become more involved with the communities that they are believed to represent and asked for policies and procedures to be reformed, as recent events have pointed to their ineffectiveness. 

“This entire thing needs to be reformed,” said Kalkat.

Read the documentation of the events via social media below: