Graphic by Mariko Kuroda/The Gazelle

A fundamental change to the structure of Student Government passed quietly this September, resulting in the addition of a body that will resemble a new judicial branch for the Executive Board.

In a small vote, the Sept. 20 General Assembly established the new Board of Appeals and gave it powers to interpret the Constitution while posing checks on the President, Vice President and the rest of the Executive Board.

Similar to the U.S. Supreme Court in mission and function, the new Board of Appeals will act only when petitioned by a member of the student body.

Members of the Board of Appeals, who must possess in-depth knowledge of the Constitution, are responsible for resolving controversies or debates that arise when Student Government is interpreting the document.

Should a student feel that the Constitution is being neglected or violated, he or she can bring their concern to the Board of Appeals. Its three members will hear the complaint and then craft opinions on how the issue should be resolved. The majority opinion will be binding, obligating Student Government to implement the Board members' final decision.

The Board’s establishment follows several constitutional controversies that punctuated the end of last spring semester, including the sudden dissolution of the Library Committee and a ruling that prevented students on leave of absence from running for election.

Sophomore Tom Klein, one of the original proponents of the new Board, believes that its establishment will minimize the frequency of these controversies.

“We’re not saying whether these events were unconstitutional or not, but we’re saying that they were certainly up for debate. These were murky topics,” said Klein. “There were a lot of actors involved, and people didn’t fully understand.”

Klein said that the Board of Appeals may give leadership roles in Student Government more future legitimacy when dealing with constitutional controversies.

“[These issues are] a delegitimizing source that, I think, hurt not only members of the Student Government but also the status of the Student Government,” said Klein. “It hurts the university and the students’ positions within it.”

Klein, along with sophomore Rhoshenda Ellis and junior Vladislav Maksimov, have served on Student Government as part of the Parliamentary Board, another body that works with the Constitution.

In response to the debate and controversies of last semester, Klein, Ellis and Maksimov crafted the amendment to establish the new Board of Appeals. They proposed it at the Sept. 6 GA, which included the amendment in its New Business portion despite the Parliamentary Board’s attempts to contact the Executive Board and request for the proposal to be included in the GA’s main agenda.

The initial amendment stipulated that the first Board of Appeals would have Klein, Ellis and Maksimov as its members, and that following boards would be nominated by the Vice President. This amendment was scratched as the document underwent editing during multiple GAs and a special Town Hall.

Klein, Ellis and Maksimov have since resigned from the Parliamentary Board.

“Our job was done effectively, and we didn’t want to be further connected to the Student Government when we were trying to change it from the outside,” said Klein.

The Parliamentary Board’s current role is only advisory, in which members serve as go-to references should a Student Government leader ever have questions about the Constitution. The Parliamentary Board can make suggestions on how the document should be read, but their decisions are not binding.

The new Board of Appeals differs from the Parliamentary Board in several ways. Rather than a consistent advisory presence, the Board of Appeals will only act when approached by a member of the NYU Abu Dhabi community.

The Board would then hear the opinions and views of the petitioner, Student Government and other relevant individuals involved in the issue.

Klein added that the Board will aim to be transparent during its decision-making process, particularly in light of perceived ambiguity and unclarity during last semester’s debate over the eligibility of leave of absence students to run for Student Government.

“There were a lot of questions as to what role the administration played in that incident, and that left a lot of people feeling very uncomfortable,” said Klein. “The Board of Appeals meetings would likely be public — that’s how I saw them.”

“There will be a lot more cards on the table and transparency than there have been in the past,” added Klein, though he noted that the Board’s internal deliberations will remain private.

Members of the Board are nominated by the Vice President. They do not have terms, but rather serve until they graduate or resign. During the Sept. 20 GA, several students identified this rule as a cause for concern, though motions to add term limits to the proposal failed in ensuing votes.

There are currently no members on the Board of Appeals, which awaits nomination from Vice President and junior Quan Vuong.

Having been dissolved, the Parliamentary Board will now transfer its duties to the Rules and Procedures Committee, which does not have any members as of publication time.

This means Student Government is currently lacking a constitutional review body. Parliamentary Board members are not nominated by the Vice President but rather appointed during GAs.