When a group of frustrated students walked into her office on Tuesday asking for Smith Meyers’ resignation, UF’s Dean of Students gave a stern response: No.
A segment of UF’s Student Body has called for the incoming UF Student Body president’s resignation following Meyers’ arrest for allegedly knocking over motorcycles while drunk over Spring Break in Key West.
But Dean of Students Jen Day Shaw said UF refused to interfere in Student Government matters, and that students’ misdemeanor charges aren’t examined by the Student Conduct Committee or the Dean of Students Office.
“We’re not going to tell Student Government what to do,” she said.
Anthony Rojas, who organized a protest on March 14 demanding Meyers’ resignation, scheduled the meeting with Day Shaw. He said he invited UF President Kent Fuchs to the meeting, but Fuchs didn’t respond to his’ request.
Rojas, 21, said he wanted to speak directly to UF administration about the incident.
“We just want to make sure that the highest officials of the University of Florida are aware of the concerns of the Student Body,” the UF political science junior said.
While Day Shaw said she couldn’t comment on Meyers’ arrest, she said only extreme off-campus arrests like child pornography, violent drug dealing and attempted murder would be considered for code violation.
When students asked the administration if it would remove a student from an elected position, Day Shaw said that UF would not interfere. Meyers is set to take office in April, where he will represent UF’s roughly 52,000 students, and take his place as the only student member of the UF Board of Trustees.
Rojas said he was surprised the administration wouldn’t address the incident.
“Student Government answers to no one,” he said.
Contact Paige Fry at pfry@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @paigexfry
