In a historic decision, the Graduate Student Government Assembly voted to impeach President Ravi Teja Chopparapu on Sept. 3, following allegations of misconduct and legal violations made by the Assembly.
The impeachment vote, conducted over Zoom, needed a two-thirds majority of the Assembly to pass the decision. Of the 27 GSG Assembly members who voted at the hearing, 22 voted in favor of impeachment and five voted against, leading to Chopparapu's removal from office.
The logistical actions for the impeachment can be seen in the Articles of Impeachment, as well as the Notice of Impeachment by GSG.
The decision to impeach Chopparapu followed two formal censures by the GSG Assembly prior to the semester. The Assembly issued a first censure against Chopparapu on July 19 for "selectively ignoring the Assembly Leadership" and hindering the Assembly's capacity to fulfill its duties.
A second censure was issued on August 16 for "gross negligence, dismissing or ignoring feedback for microaggressions against marginalized students, disregard of the Assembly's autonomy, misuse of power and conduct unbecoming a GSG officer."
"The greatest challenge I have faced, is trying to run a government while our Executive Officers have either neglected their duties, or actively worked to undermine us from fulfilling ours," said GSG Assembly President Michael Kintscher, a graduate student studying computer science.
Former President Chopparapu said "there was a lot of confusion" during the transition between presidencies, and that "we tried to reach out to them, but (there was) no response."
READ MORE: GSG president faces possible recall after withholding vital funding information
Before the hearing, the Undergraduate Student Government Council of Presidents issued a memo toward the Assembly stating that the council "respect its autonomy," but expressed concerns about whether the impeachment is justified "on the grounds of non-compliance with actions that may themselves be unconstitutional."
The document also removed Chopparapu from the Associated Students of ASU Council of Presidents until a consensus could be reached on the legitimate holder of the student body president position.
Chopparapu was accused by the Assembly of withholding budgetary information, misgendering an LGBTQ Assembly member — despite repeated corrections — and failing to respond to communications regarding essential student services, including research and travel grants.
"These students, our constituents, demanded that we take swift action, and we did," Kintscher said. "Former President Chopparapu was given ample opportunities and warnings to correct his behavior, but after all of those were ignored, we had no choice but to remove him from office."
During the hearing, Chopparapu defended his actions in a six-minute statement. He cited his achievements, such as advocating for driving schools, swimming lessons and increasing food options on campus.
He argued that there was no valid court per the GSG Constitution to adjudicate the matter and accused the Assembly of not permitting the executives to pass the full summer budget.
He also addressed a police report that detailed his involvement in an incident of miscommunication with a GSG member who he viewed as trespassing, according to Chopparapu.
"This is trespassing without permission," Chopparapu said. "Only I had access."
Nikki Fordey, the GSG Assembly president pro tempore and a graduate student studying law, shed more light on the situation.
"The police report makes it seem like it was some random person trespassing and trying to steal things," Fordey said. "This is someone who has been involved in Graduate Student Government for years, someone Ravi has met on several occasions."
Throughout the impeachment process, the Assembly members relied on extensive documentation to support their case. Public records, including meeting minutes, recordings and bills, were shared through a publicly accessible Google Drive folder.
Additionally, LGBTQ+ Assembly members voiced their grievances about being misgendered by Chopparapu, which they claim persisted even after he was informed multiple times. In response, Chopparapu stated that, as an international student, he was unfamiliar with certain cultural norms.
Akash Balakrishnan, a doctoral student studying civil, environmental and sustainable engineering, said Chopparapu's cultural norms did not allow for him to continue to misgender members, even if he mistakenly did it once.
"It's okay to make a mistake once because I think that everyone's allowed a mistake," Balakrishnan said. "No one's perfect in this world, but if you make a mistake, you have to own up to it, and you have to work towards addressing and correcting that mistake."
Moving forward, the organization must appoint an interim president from the line of succession. They will also potentially organize a recall election if the School of Life and Sciences E-Board petition, posted on August 14 advocating for the recall, reaches the threshold of three percent of students per campus.
Edited by: George Headley, Abigail Beck, Tiya Talwar and Madeline Schmitke.
Reach the reporter at emuslim@asu.edu.
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Emra is a junior studying political science with a minor in Spanish. This is her first semester with The State Press. She has also worked at the League of Women Voters of Arizona, USG-WV, Honors College Council at Barrett and the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict.
