On most campuses, the answer to the age-old question from Beyoncé, “Who run the world?” is GREEKS. We are involved in everything, and nowhere is that more obvious than student government. But like most government officials, we are vulnerable to scandal, and no one is immune, as Chapman University’s Student Government Speaker of the Senate and President-Elect found out this week.
That guy is named Austin Kernan, and he is also the Vice President of Finance for the university’s chapter of Delta Tau Delta fraternity (and if I may say, sort of hot).
Anyway, Kernan resigned both his speaker and president-elect positions this week. A press release from the SGA stated the resignations were due “personal reasons,” but the student paper, The Panther Online, revealed that the actual cause was that Kernan allegedly embezzled money from his fraternity.
Tyler Porterfield, vice-president elect, has been in contact with Kernan, despite the fact that she has been abroad. She told the paper, “I know that he pretty much embezzled money from his fraternity and that it was a pretty significant amount. He was very honest with me and said that he stole from (Delta Tau Delta) … It was nice to hear that honesty and he didn’t hide behind it.”
As for what happens now, that’s unclear. Kernan has declined comment due to legal reasons, the DTD president declined comment due to the ongoing investigation and, according to the paper, “student government bylaws and constitution currently do not have any clauses addressing what should happen if a president-elect resigns.”
[via The Panther Online]