A three-year member of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) is facing an impeachment hearing for misuse of government funds, after using the student government's credit card to contribute to the funding of the Global Justice Project (GJP)'s "Freshmen Disorientation" pamphlets. Distributed last week, the pamphlet contains several articles about social justice issues on campus, but also includes profanity and derides several student organizations.
Ravi Kalwani, executive director of social and cultural issues for the UGBC and A&S '05, will face a hearing held by the Legislative Directors on Monday for spending $1,181 on the printing of "Freshmen Disorientation."
Kalwani, also a member of the GJP, was given permission to allocate funds toward a freshman orientation packet in the beginning of this semester by Grace Simmons and Burnell Holland, UGBC president and vice president, respectively, both A&S '05.
Though the allocation was approved by the UGBC, the resulting publication was not. The pamphlet, distributed under the doors of residence halls and at last week's First Year Academic Convocation, contained offensive language and negative references to the University and the College Republicans.
The ideas behind the packet had been three years in the making, according to Kalwani, though it was written this past summer. Several GJP members contributed to the product, which had to be rushed due to the approaching start-of-semester deadline.
"Because the work on the publication took longer than expected, the completion and printing was rushed, accounting for the delivery to my dorm room rather than the UGBC office and the usage of the UGBC 'P' Card (as recommended)," said Kalwani in an e-mail sent to all UGBC departments late Wednesday night.
Kalwani himself did not read the final product before approving funds toward its publication.
"Getting it to the printer and putting it together was very, very quick and that's why I couldn't read it and why I put it on the P Card, which is the fastest way of funding," said Kalwani, in an interview with The Heights. "I put it in the hands of the GJP and just trusted that the publication would stay true to the goals of social justice."
Simmons stated that she and Holland had not seen the document during its production and that they had been told it would consist of a list of social justice opportunities on campus, as well as good books and movies about the topic.
"We entrusted Ravi, as an executive director, to make sure that that packet would be in line with the spirit and mission of the Undergraduate Government of Boston College and it clearly was not," said Simmons. "We don't approve of the expletive language; we would never sanction the expletive language that was used in the document, nor the offensive material against clubs organizations and persons within the BC community."
"I think the BC community knows that Burnell and I stand behind a lot of the issues that were addressed in that packet but we would never have signed off on that if we had seen it. Ever," Simmons added.
Holland described Kalwani's move as hasty and reckless.
"I think that was a pretty reckless decision to let it get printed with expletives in the articles and the direct attacks on specific groups on campus. That was unmerited," said Holland. "There's nothing wrong with differing opinions but when it comes to the point of disrespect, Grace and I don't stand for that and the student government should not stand for that either."
Kalwani could be in danger of losing his position if three-fourths of the Legislative Directors find him guilty. The hearing is scheduled for Monday at 7:30 p.m., with the location to be announced. It is open to the student body.
"I think this is something the government can handle professionally within the bounds of our constitution," said Simmons. "We want to handle this appropriately, openly, transparently; we want to be accountable for what happened but at the same time we really want to move on after this and have it dealt with in as appropriate a manner as possible."
Kalwani stated that in the past three years, he has been devoted to the UGBC and to the cause of social justice at large.
"I've had a really strong track record for UGBC and I've done a lot of things for the campus," said Kalwani. "Creating a liaison between GJP and UGBC is another thing. In the end I would cite being very loyal, and honest to UGBC by being a decent member, helping with everything I could, going to meetings, events, and trying to work closely with people in my department."
Simmons stated that Kalwani is an asset to the UGBC, but would hold him to the same procedures as other members.
"He is held to a different level of expectation and accountability because he is an ED [executive director] of a department," said Simmons. "But I do have to say that Ravi is a fantastic addition to this government and I think that it was just a misjudgment on his part. Nevertheless, we must follow procedure under the constitution to uphold the integrity of the government."
Dean for the Office of Student Development Robert Sherwood stated that Simmons made the right decision by arranging a public hearing to determine Kalwani's accountability.
"We [ODSD] feel very comfortable that this is a UGBC matter and I have confidence that they are going to handle this appropriately," said Sherwood.
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