Michigan Student Assembly Vice President Probir Mehta misused funds and violated assembly procedure when he handed over $500 to the United Asian American Organization in September, some MSA members allege.
The $500 allocation came from the assembly's operations account, funds that are primarily used to cover office expenses.
The allocation violated MSA's Compiled Code, which states that money for student groups should come from the Budget Priorities Committee and not from the operations fund.
Also, according to the All-Campus Constitution, Mehta was not allowed to sign for money granted to a student organization without assembly approval.
"I acknowledge that I made a mistake," Mehta said, adding that his only intentions were to help a student group that needed money at a "gray area" time of year when MSA's money was being held in an operations account. "You learn from your mistakes - that's part of the process."
Mehta said he did not get the assembly's approval because MSA had not been reaching quorum after many members left for the summer.
LSA Rep. Andy Schor, who will propose a resolution to investigate Mehta at tonight's MSA meeting, said this is not a personal attack, but a way to prevent future mishaps.
"What I want the students to know is that if one of the MSA members breaks the rules that are there to protect the students, that MSA member will be held accountable, no matter who they are," Schor said.
Mehta said he has been totally open and addressed questions before they were even asked. He added that all MSA records are open to the public.
He said the issue did not come to light earlier because he forgot to report it fully. Other MSA members said the allocation to UAAO may not have appeared right away in official assembly minutes.
"This is something pretty serious," Schor said. "The resolution, if formed, would create an investigative committee which would then investigate Probir and the illegal and inappropriate action that he took in dispersing $500 without assembly approval."
Some MSA members support Schor's proposal, while others say the committee is unnecessary.
Rackham Rep. Ray Robb said Schor has the right idea.
"(The purpose of the investigative committee is) to find out what all the facts are and to submit, eventually, a written report telling the assembly what happened and what the assembly should do," Robb said.
SNRE Rep. and Budget Priorities Committee Chair Karie Morgan said the formation of an investigative committee is a drastic measure.
"Given Probir's past performance and my working relationship with him, I trust him," Morgan said, adding that she does not think that the assembly will pass Schor's resolution.
Instead of investigating Mehta, Morgan said MSA should take a closer look at the summer assembly rules in an effort to prevent similar situations from occurring again.
Some assembly members said the allocation may also raise conflict of interest concerns because Mehta may have personal ties to UAAO.
"At the time, obviously, the budget wasn't approved, so the money had to come from operations," said BPC Vice Chair John Lopez said. "There are some very serious ethics questions regarding (Probir) being a member of the organization and him signing the allocation to that organization."
Mehta, who said he now attends some UAAO meetings, said he was not a member of UAAO when he signed for the $500 and that the money went to an event "(MSA) routinely fund(s)."
LSA Rep. Yejide Peters said she does not think an investigative committee needs to established.
"I don't think we need to beat this to death," Peters said.
Mehta said he has come clean, and that this issue does not need to be dwelled upon.
"I'm just concerned MSA's image will suffer," Mehta said.