Student Association President Adam Amit was scheduled to give his State of the SA address at Monday night’s Assembly meeting.

Instead, members of the Assembly expressed their disapproval by passing a censure, reprimanding the behavior of Amit and two other delegates during the State University of New York SA conference this weekend held at the Holiday Inn Arena at Binghamton. The resolution passed 33 to 19 with two abstentions.

The censure followed Amit’s admittance to the body that he and Assembly chair Elahd Bar-Shai, and Lawrence Faulstich, chair for Binghamton University’s research and planning committee, “made mistakes” during the conference — including drinking alcohol at the meeting less than two hours after Chancellor Nancy Zimpher finished speaking about the next phase of her strategic plan for SUNY.

Amit apologized for their behavior, which led to representatives from the 64 universities and colleges passing a 47 to 16 vote, with 11 abstentions, for the delegates to leave the conference.

The apology was twofold: the three admitted to allowing an undergraduate, who they declined to name, to vouch as a representative of the Graduate Student Organization without the organization’s approval. The false representation gave BU’s delegates additional voting power.

“There was no, I repeat, no excuse for our actions,” he told the Assembly. “We admit full fault and take full responsibility for our actions.”

Bar-Shai was caught in controversy last spring when he made racial comments toward then-SA Vice President for Finance Alice Liou during an argument. Bar-Shai was previously elected as Assembly chair for the 2009-10 school year, but after this conflict the Assembly held a re-vote for the position, which he eventually retained.

Amit also admitted that he and the two other delegates, who are all of age, each brought a single beer back into the meeting, and stressed that the only policy they violated was one of the hotel’s. Assembly representatives debated as to whether the resolution to censure the three, which was written by Randal Meyer, was too harsh, too lenient or if the resolution should be tabled altogether.

Assembly representative Sean McLeod said that the body needed to take some sort of action during the meeting, and spoke out in favor of the censure during the first round of debate.

“The reputation of the University is dwindling significantly,” he said.

Paul Liggieri, Assembly representative for Off Campus College Council, suggested that an independent body further investigate the situation, and see if any of the three were forced to make a confession “under distress.”

Bar-Shai raised a point of personal privilege during the debate and stated that the three acted together and all agreed to confess.

He and Amit told the Assembly that GSO President Cagri Idiman, had been notified of the situation and that he understood their actions. The two said the censure would be appropriate and that they would accept it.

“We erred in judgment,” Amit said. “It was a very poor decision.”

The delegates left the conference peacefully, and later apologized to each member of the SUNY SA executive board, who Amit said accepted wholeheartedly.

“They expressed that they were very sorry and that it obviously was a very bad decision,” said Juliette Price, director for communications for the SUNY SA.

Price refuted claims from other individuals present that BU’s delegates, some of who were dressed in jeans and sweatshirts, while most others donned business-casual attire, were disruptive throughout the conference when it came to correcting certain procedures.

”Some people know Robert’s Rules and others don’t,” she said. “There’s sort of this communication breakdown. He [Bar-shai] was simply trying to help delegation move along, and he was not the only delegate. Multiple schools were trying to help out.”

Bar-shai said that he and the other delegates took the conference very seriously, and that this weekend’s mistakes won’t affect their ability to fulfill their goals this year. Vice President for Student Affairs Brian Rose said that he’s still willing to work with the delegates and the SA as a whole.

“It’s not a fall, it’s a stumble,” Amit said. “We fell below standards, but we hope that our accomplishments and hard work over the past six months are an indication … that we can recover.”

Elizabeth Droz, BU’s dean of students said that the three fell short of the expected standard.

“We have expressed our disappointment firmly and directly to those involved,” she said in a statement. “This will be a difficult time for the individual students who will face public criticism for their actions; however, learning how to conduct oneself as a public figure is part and parcel of the educational experience inherent in being a student leader.”

Amit hopes to give his State of the SA address next Monday.