Student Senate Chief Justice Fleming resigns amid turmoil

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to clarify why Fleming was asked to lead the executive session meeting. President and Chair of the Senate Eliza Ivan was not allowed to lead the meeting due to her role, so Fleming was appointed to lead in Ivan’s absence.

Editor’s Note: This article’s headline was updated to correct the spelling of Fleming’s last name.

Chief Justice Hannah Fleming announced her resignation at Wednesday night’s general body meeting of the Ohio University Student Senate. Fleming’s resignation followed the voiding of the vote of no confidence against Treasurer Simar Kalkat. 

Fleming announced her resignation in the middle of the over four-hour Student Speakout session during Wednesday’s Student Senate meeting. Fleming has faced criticism from members of Student Senate as well as members of Ohio U’s student body regarding her handling of a vote of no confidence against Kalkat and the anonymous letter read before the vote. 

Immediately following her resignation speech, Fleming abruptly left the meeting, a turning point in the Student Speakout session, and was met with harsh criticism from Senate members and attendees. 

“When I left it wasn't because I was trying to escape accountability, to me it felt like I was part of an organization that was deeply flawed and I felt like I could hold myself accountable by no longer being a part of that organization,” Fleming said in a text message. “I get that just walking out of the room was extreme and perhaps out of character, but for my mental health I had to leave. If people don’t understand that, then it’s fine. I did what I had to do for myself, to remove myself from the situation.”

Three associate justices, Julianna Rittenberg, Julia Platt and Cheyenne Knavel, also resigned and left the meeting with Fleming. 

“I don't think that I personally influenced any of them (the associate justices), but I feel that their resignations are also in solidarity with me. Although I'm the one receiving the threatening messages on Instagram and things like that and the harassment to my personal accounts. It's something that's affecting the well being of all of us as a panel and they just could not deal with that for much longer,” Fleming said in a phone interview after the meeting. 

One student at the meeting called Fleming’s behavior a “prime example of how a white woman can cry crocodile tears out of a room, and a woman of color cannot.” In an interview, Kalkat said she did not know about the Judicial Panel resignations and describes the moment Fleming left.

“I didn’t have any of those opportunities and for you (Fleming) to get up in the middle of a student speak out, because you took things so personally; it's, first of all, embarrassing. Again, reflect on your motives, reflect on your character,” Kalkat said. “If you're representing students and stuff, you literally get up in the middle of speak out and leave? And you take all of your little white friends with you. Good riddance. Short answer: No, I didn’t know (about Fleming resigning).”

As stated in her resignation letter, Fleming cited harassment regarding the vote, along with general instances of the Judicial Panel being made the “scapegoat for the Senate’s problems” as the primary reasons for her resignation. 

Since her resignation, two individuals have been reported to Ohio University Community Standards. Fleming declined to provide examples of messages she’s received due to an alleged ongoing Community Standards investigation. 

“I can say that some of the messages I’ve gotten are ones calling me racist, saying I should be ashamed of myself, (I) do not deserve to be in my position, and threats saying that people will make sure I’m never in a position of power again,” Fleming said in a text message. “That they will make sure I don’t get into any grad schools, that I need to watch my back because everyone has their eyes on me.”

Kalkat denies that she directed people to harass Fleming and reinforces that harassment was not her intention.

“I would never tell anyone ‘go heckle someone.’ Like I said, I didn’t need to tell a single person to post (on social media). Never would I do that….What was the harassment?” Kalkat said.

Fleming’s resignation comes after a tumultuous week for the Student Senate, following a vote of no confidence against Kalkat during an executive session on Feb. 16. As the then-Chief Justice, Fleming was the chairperson for the vote. 

A vote of no confidence for executive members of the Student Senate can be brought about either at the end of the fall academic semester or during the sixth week of the spring academic semester. Executive members of the Student Senate are the president, the vice president and the treasurer.

Prior to the start of the Feb.16 meeting, Fleming was handed a letter from an anonymous Senate member, later confirmed by sources to be Honors Tutorial College Senator and budget committee chairperson Rhyan Goodman, expressing concerns about Kalkat’s use of her Ohio U purchasing card.

“I made it very clear that as the chairperson of that meeting, I was reading it. I was not reading it as Chief Justice, I was not reading it as Hannah Fleming or as any representative of the Judicial Panel,” Fleming said in a phone interview. “I was just reading it as the person who was running the meeting, because the President (Eliza Ivan) asked me to do so.”

Ivan clarified that she had to leave the room during the meeting because of her role as president of the Senate and appointed Fleming to lead it in Ivan’s absence.

The note stated that Kalkat had put a plane ticket to Texas on her PCard. The ticket was for a trip to Austin, Texas for Select Leaders, a leadership program through the College of Business. According to reporting by The New Political, the expense was a mistake made by Concur, the online system Ohio U uses to handle expenses.

The plane ticket was promptly taken off Kalkat’s PCard after she brought the issue to the attention of Graduate Advisor Nathaniel Padilla and Tammy Reynolds, Kalkat’s advisor for Select Leaders.

There was no transfer of senate funds since the expense was never substantiated.   

“I want you to know that this airline ticket was not purchased by her, it was inadvertently put on her PCard,” Tim Reynolds, director of the Select Leadership Development Program within the College of Business, said during the meeting. “She notified us immediately on that and we seek out proper counsel from the people that are responsible for it.“

Kalkat was removed from her position during the executive session, following a 11-4 no confidence vote by senate voting members. Kalkat was not present during the vote, nor was Student Senate Graduate Advisor Nathaniel Padilla. 

25 minutes before Wednesday night’s general body meeting, Student Senate put out a press release announcing that Kalkat’s ousting was voided because it was “not in alignment with our governing documents.”

In Wednesday night’s meeting, allegations were made toward varying members of the Student Senate. One of the allegations involve meetings in Baker University Center with Goodman, who also serves as budget chairperson; Off Campus Affairs Senator Chandler Jent and former Commissioner Dylan DeMonte. 

“We were all coming at Hannah Fleming, like the executives and stuff. The people who orchestrated that entire thing did not speak one time. And I was just thinking, ‘We’re all coming at all these women, but it was white dudes who orchestrated the entire thing’ –– Chandler Jent, Andrew Cornelison …,” Kalkat said. “I don’t think it was Hannah (Fleming). I think it was all of those dudes, who did not say a single word, who had the audacity to say ‘I feel like I’m being targeted’ and walk out.”

An accusation was brought against Fleming, claiming she shared information with Senate members regarding Kalkat’s Judicial Panel records. Similar claims, regarding the disclosing of senate punitive points, were brought against Chief of Staff Celine Freetage in the meeting. Both Freetage and Fleming deny these claims. 

“No, that is not true. What I can say about this is that he had submitted a report and because of that it is the duty of the judicial panel to reach out to the person who submitted that report and let them know the status of that,” Fleming said. “That's also outlined in the rules and procedures. So anything that we did discuss, it was in regards to the report that we had received from him.”

Despite the circumstances of her departure, Fleming positively remembers all that she gained from her time on Student Senate; however, she has no plans of returning to the body.

“This whole experience has been really eye opening for me in terms of what I want to do for a career potentially, after my graduation,” Fleming said. “I know I don't want to be involved in electoral politics, just because of how messy it can get. I love to use my experiences from this organization, though, in other ways.”

On Thursday, the Judicial Panel released a statement apologizing to Kalkat. 

“The Judicial Panel is responsible for interpreting and applying the Rules and Procedures and Constitution, and I am committed to ensuring the equitable application of all Senate discipline m including members of the Senate who disrespected, defame and disregarded Treasurer Simar Kalkat and those who supported her,” newly promoted Chief Justice Soren Starkey wrote in the release. “To those who were hurt by the Judicial Panel’s negligence and to those who spoke out: We are sorry, and thank you; We will treat all of your recommendations and concerns with the professionalism they deserve.”

Editor’s Note: Julianna Rittenberg is an opinion writer for The New Political. 

Audri Wilde, Madeline Harden and Emily Crebs contributed to this report.