The Undergraduate Student Congress voted to impeach the Student Government Association President Carter Strickland on Tuesday.
Editor’s note: Carter Strickland currently serves on the OU Daily Publications Board, which oversees OU Daily’s topline matters by establishing, implementing and monitoring editorial, fiscal, production and personnel policies. The Publications Board does not have any say in publishing matters and news coverage.
The Undergraduate Student Congress impeached Student Government Association President Carter Strickland on five charges at its Tuesday evening meeting.
Strickland is the first SGA president to be impeached in university history.
President impeachment
The news: Five impeachment charges were presented against SGA President Carter Strickland during a special order titled A Resolution for the Impeachment of the SGA President.
SGA President Carter Strickland during his impeachment hearing at the Undergraduate Student Congress meeting on March 25.
The resolution, which was authored by Congress Vice Chair Aaron Gilson-Bond and co-sponsored by Chief of Staff Ellie Wolthuis, Congress Secretary Chloe Harris, five committee chairs, 11 representatives and two associates, list five charges against Strickland. Three members of the body asked to be added additionally as cosponsored during the meeting.
The five charges included in the resolution were:
• Created a hostile workplace environment while serving as SGA president.
• Failed to act in accordance with the Oklahoma Open Meetings Act and the SGA Code Annotated while serving as SGA president.
• Went against the Chief Justice’s advisement in electing members to search committees while serving as SGA president.
• Neglected his duties to the Legislative Branches while serving as SGA president.
• Hindered the duties and responsibilities of the chief of staff.
At the meeting on March 11, congress passed The Outlining Congressional Impeachment Hearings Act, which amended the bylaws, adding rules for impeachment hearings for officers of the executive, judicial or programming branches.
Congress approved all five charges, which will be seen in the Graduate Student Senate in a trial presided over by Chief Justice Claire Grace.
What they’re saying: Vice Chair Aaron Gilson-Bond, the primary author of the bill, said although the charges brought up against Strickland were varied in their coverage of his responsibilities as president, he felt obligated to take action.
Congress Vice Chair Aaron Gilson-Bond, who authored the bill of impeachment charges against SGA President Carter Strickland, reacts to the vote for impeachment by the Undergraduate Student Congress.
“(Strickland’s) failure to take accountability sets a precedent for us all,” Gilson-Bond said. “If we’re not willing to hold him accountable, then are we really willing and able to hold us accountable?”
Strickland said he was only made aware of concerns about his leadership regarding the Oklahoma Open Meetings, Wolthius’ work and his responsibility to address congress in early March. All other issues related to the charges, according to Strickland, were only brought to his attention over spring break.
In response to the alleged disparaging comments he made to Wolthuis listed in the agenda, Strickland admitted that what he said could have been misconstrued.
“(The comments) were rude with no intention of hostility, but they were rude, and I do regret saying what I have said,” Strickland.
Rep. Marilou Bento, external affairs committee chair, said she felt the impeachment charges were not justified.
“I feel like Congress has not taken all the appropriate steps before impeachment, and has quite literally chosen the nuclear option on these charges, instead of going forward with something smaller, like a censure,” Bento said.
Bento said she saw a lot of issues with the timing of the bill. Bento said Strickland did not have an adequate amount of time to prepare or change his behavior in compliance with these complaints.
Rep. Aniketh Koneru, human diversity committee chair, said that an impeachment hearing was necessary to appropriately determine if Strickland fulfilled his obligations.
“In our code annotated, it outlines exactly the duties and responsibilities of that SGA president and so … we are simply enforcing the rules in place,” Koneru said. “It’s not saying anything about him as a person. It is about holding people responsible for the job that they signed up for.”
At the end of the meeting, Wolthuis told OU Daily she appreciated those who supported her throughout the hearing.
“Going into it, we knew that the body would move how the body would move,” Wolthuis said. “People were told to vote how they felt, and obviously their opinions towards President Strickland and towards his administration were voiced at the end.”
Strickland told OU Daily following the meeting that while he wished the vote had not turned out how it did, he respects what the body decided.
SGA President Carter Strickland reacts to the Undergraduate Student Congress’ vote to impeach him on Tuesday.
“Tomorrow I’m gonna wake up and do my job and do it to the best of my abilities, and that started with addressing the problems that were raised during this bill,” Strickland said. “But I’m going to keep serving as president until I’m found guilty of these charges.”
Strickland said to all the OU students who were not able to attend the meeting that he is open to hearing concerns.
“I was voted by the students of OU because I love the students of OU…” Strickland said. “I’m here to better myself and to better the university…meaning correct my mistakes and I can’t do that unless I address them, and so these problems will be addressed by me.”
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress approved all five charges of impeachment against Strickland.
The following charges were voted on separately:
• Created a hostile workplace environment while serving as SGA president was approved 20-10-3. Rep. Reese Ball, Rep. Marilou Bento, Rep. Lauren Carter, Rep. Elizabeth Duncan, Rep. Nicole Estrada, Rep. Mecca Fisher, Rep. Elias Hallum, Rep. Hudson Harris, Rep. Bridget Lapp, Rep. Pierce Ogle voted no on the charge. Rep. Ava Burnett, Rep. Jael Finley and Rep. Lilian Higareda Castillo abstained from the vote.
• Failed to act in accordance with the Oklahoma Open Meetings Act and the SGA Code Annotated while serving as SGA president was approved 31-0-2. Burnett and Finley abstained from the vote.
• Went against the chief justice’s advisement in electing members to search committees while serving as SGA president was approved 27-6-0. Bento, Burnett, Fisher, Harris, Higareda Castillo and Rep. Aydan Pruitt voted no on the charge.
• Neglected his duties to the legislative branches while serving as SGA president was approved 18-16-0. Ball, Bento, Burnett, Carter, Finley, Harris, Higareda Castillo, Pruitt, Lapp, Ogle, Fisher, Rep. Owen Cunningham, Rep. Kyle Oler, Rep. Alexandra Toyos and Rep. Michael Wintory voted no on the charge.
• Hindered the duties and responsibilities of the chief of staff was approved 27-5-1. Ball, Bento, Carter, Harris and Lapp voted no on the charge. Burnett abstained from the vote.
Understanding the vote
On March 25, the Undergraduate Student Congress voted to impeach OU Student Government Association President Carter Strickland on five impeachment charges.
“Impeachment basically means that Congress has agreed that these charges are public and that they’re trying to publicly hold you accountable for those things,” SGA Congress Chair Hope Rhoads said.
Rhoads said Strickland now stands an impeached president.
The Graduate Student Senate will meet at a later date — which has yet to be determined — to hold a trial to consider whether the charges will warrant Strickland’s removal from the position of president.
According to the SGA Constitution, the Undergraduate Student Congress has the sole power to bring impeachment charges against and vote to impeach the executive branch members, and the Graduate Student Senate has the sole power to try all impeachments.
The trial will be presided over by Chief Justice Claire Grace of the Superior Court.
If Strickland is removed, SGA Vice President Avery Dunlap will become president and recommend a candidate for vice president to Congress for consideration.
Appointing parking appeals judges
The news: The Appointing Parking Appeals Judges Act of Spring 2025 appointed the following four judges to serve on the Parking Appeals Board.
The Parking Appeals Board reviews parking ticket appeals and works with students and OU Parking Services to relieve some parking offenses.
The following students were appointed as judges:
• Robert Dollins
• Vignesh Anand
• Brocke Graham
• Estrella Quinones
The vote: The Undergraduate Student Congress unanimously approved this bill with a vote of 33-0-0.
Peggy Dodd edited this story.
