Daniel Chapman

## Supreme Court of Saginaw Valley

### Appointed by

The Supreme Court of Saginaw Valley with the advice of the Student Association President

### Constituting instrument

Constitution of the Supreme Court of Saginaw Valley

Daniel Chapman served as Student Association Parliamentarian during the 2013—2014 academic year. Prior to his service as Parliamentarian, Chapman served as a Representative. He is the current chairman of *The Saginaw Valley Journal*and an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of Saginaw Valley.

## Representative

Chapman was an outspoken Student Association Representative known for pro-liberty and pro-transparency causes who was a frequent thorn for the SVSU administration and association leaders. He steadfastly challenged positions and actions with which he disagreed and introduced legislation on numerous occasion to increase the independence of the association.

During his time as a representative, he repeatedly called for a strict adherence to the Student Association Charter and Student Association By-Laws, which he viewed as sacrosanct. He disagreed with the association's decisions during his tenure to spend student funds outside of the budget provisions of the by-laws.

Chapman's tenure highlighted a contrast between a classic two-sided debate within the association that remains active to this day. Chapman sided with a viewpoint that recognizes the charter and bylaws as legal documents and emphasizes strict adherence. Other members, such as Dylan Kosaski and Joshua Fleming, placed more importance on the practical effects of legislation and viewed the governing documents as merely guidelines that should not be taken too seriously.

## Parliamentarian

He was narrowly voted out of the association during the 2013 student elections. That spring, however, he was nominated parliamentarian by Student Association President Dylan Kosaski and Speaker of the Association Joseph Rexford. The association confirmed him in a 15-1 secret ballot vote during the 2013 summer retreat.

With his appointment, Chapman rejoined the association in a position he coveted for years. He was nominated the year before by Student Association President Ted Goodman and Speaker of the Association Jordan Garland, but was rejected by the association during his confirmation vote.

As parliamentarian, Chapman authored 11 formal parliamentary opinions, the most of any in association history, ruling on issues ranging from the presidential veto, to the association's budget, and to representatives who study abroad; among others.

Chapman invalidated the association's annual budget on the eve of the 2013 fall semester in a nine-page opinion on procedural grounds, saying that it was not available to the public five days before passage, as required by the by-laws. In a 17-page opinion, Chapman also ruled that the association must comply with the Michigan Open Meetings Act.

In perhaps the boldest opinion of his tenure as parliamentarian, Chapman invalidated and re-opened the 2014 student elections after ruling that the 'good standing' election rule conflicted with the charter. The 'good standing' rule required that students be in good standing—currently registered with no holds for financial, disciplinary, or academic matters—in order to be eligible to vote. The opinion represented a risky exercise in autonomy, asserting authority over the University Election Commission, to which the association, beforehand, had nearly completely delegated election matters. Chapman's opinion was widely seen as a technicality, and did not affect the results of the election, because the number of voters rejected due to the rule could not make up the difference in votes between the two presidential candidates.

## 2013 Student Election Dispute

In the 2013 student elections, Chapman failed to retain his seat as a representative, coming just four votes shy and finishing 21st in voting. The top twenty candidates were elected.

The election results came after Chapman publicly accused the Election Commission Advisor Nic Taylor of impropriety. Chapman initiated a formal complaint based upon those accusations and he also challenged the election results. His complaints, however, were largely ignored by SVSU officials, and he received a one-sentence e-mail message from SVSU assistant dean of students Marie Rabideau that read "I have investigated your claim and find no unethical conduct by Nic Taylor, election commission advisor," without elaborating.

 *In re Representative Appointments* 16-001 • *In re Executive Assistant to the Association* 16-003 • *In re Office Vacancies and Resignations* 16-005 • *In re Election Commission II* 16-006 • *In re Speaker Election* 16-007 • *In re Separation of Powers 16-008* • *In re Replacing Representatives* 16-009 • *In re Maura Losh* 18-001 • *In re Parliamentary Opinion 17-01* 18-002