Freshman Toni Porter appealed to the student supreme court on the grounds that she was unfairly terminated from her position as the freshman representative of the Black Student Union.

The court ultimately ruled in her favor by a vote of five with one abstention from justice Eric Baker, who removed himself from the hearing to avoid a conflict of interests as he serves as the director of internal affairs for BSU.

Porter testified that she was appointed to the newly-formed special committee on Aug. 31 by DeMarlon Brown, president of BSU after initially interviewing for the director of internal affairs position.

As the appointed freshman representative, her responsibilities included greeting new students and promoting the organization, as well as planning events that would appeal to the freshman population and represent the messages expressed by BSU.

Porter said that while serving on the BSU from August to January, she was never once presented with guidelines or stipulations for carrying out and keeping her position.

Porter was dismissed from her duties via e-mail on January 11 by BSU adviser Dana Barnard.

Porter attributed her dismissal to an incident that occurred during a BSU executive board meeting on Nov. 5.

She told justices she pitched an idea that received vocal criticism from fellow board members and resulted in what she deemed to be “unprofessional behavior” in the form of swearing and personal attacks.

She said that when she voiced her concerns about the alleged behavior, members of the executive board disagreed with her opinions and wished to remove her from her position.

“They’re used to being unprofessional and cursing,” Porter told the justices. “They weren’t used to people speaking up. I didn’t do anything wrong. The Constitution says I have a right to the freedom of speech.”

Porter and her parents, who also attended the hearing, subsequently met with Brown on Dec. 10 to discuss her term as the freshman representative to BSU.

“They told me I was going to go ahead and serve my full time and move forward with my position, but when I got back from winter break, I received an e-mail that said my position would be taken away because of my GPA,” Porter said.

Brown countered that Porter was not removed from her position because of the views she expressed and he said he pleads with members to speak their minds.

Rather, Brown said Porter failed to meet the GPA requirement for maintaining her position, which he set at 2.5 as opposed to the 2.3 required of all other BSU positions. Porter said she holds a 2.43 GPA.

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The BSU constitution states that the president may appoint people to positions as deemed fit and may also establish guidelines as to earning and upholding their positions.

However, Porter said she was never presented with any guidelines.

Brown then procured a “freshman checklist” that he and Porter drafted together, which outlined the responsibilities she was to assume during her term, including meeting the 2.5 GPA requirement Brown suggested.

Justices ultimately ruled to disregard the higher requirement because they felt Porter was treated as an executive board member and believed she both voted and testified at meetings, thus she should be held to the same standards as executive members,

including meeting the 2.3 GPA requirement.

Justice Artie Berns said the court felt that holding her to different standards than the other members violates the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees equal protection to all citizens.

They ruled that Porter be readmitted as the freshman representative of BSU immediately and encouraged the organization to provide materials such as the constitution, bylaws and job descriptions to members in a timely manner.

“Miss Porter was appointed as a de facto member of the executive board, and you can’t change the rules in the middle of her term,” Berns said.

He said that though Porter’s position is not expressed in the constitution as such, she was treated as a voting member and would be responsible for fulfilling the duties stated on the checklist, except for meeting the 2.5 GPA requirement.

Unsatisfied, Brown challenged the decision.

“So, our ruling’s out of the water? So, we have no jurisdiction over our own organization?” he asked. “I will be sending every RSO to you guys, and I hope you rule the same. I’m just trying to tell you what you’re going to be dealing with.”

Brown said the final BSU executive board meeting will be held today, and he welcomed Porter to attend, though he told justices that dissatisfied members could possibly vote to impeach her by a two-thirds majority vote.

Despite this, Porter said she will be returning as the freshman representative and looks forward to carrying out her full term.

“I will continue to do what I’ve been doing,” she said.

Brown said he views the ruling as a defeat for RSOs.

“I hope the (student) supreme court is ready,” he said. “I hope every week, they reinstate a new person and ignore what they’d like to ignore. If I could go back and change one thing, it’d be: don’t put a freshman on the executive board.”

Erica Whelan can be reached at 581-7942 or elwhelan@eiu.edu