COLLEGE STATION, Texas — As suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton awaits the results of his impeachment trial in Austin, students at Texas A&M in College Station are weighing the merits of an impeachment trial of their own.
Hudson Kraus from Dallas is the newly elected Student Body President. But early this month, an allegation surfaced. Students Ana Renfroe and Nico Gutteridge broke the first story in the Aggie student newspaper The Battalion.
"So, Hudson Kraus is currently accused of a couple things," The Battalion news editor Ana Renfroe said. "But most recently of altering a job description for a cabinet position for his brother." The Battalion reported that Kraus was accused of an "attempt to lower the qualifications of a cabinet position to match his brother Hunter Kraus' lack of Student Government Association experience."
Senators alleged that Kraus altered the official job description for the position of vice president of campus improvement shortly before presenting his brother as a candidate. They alleged the position required prior SGA experience but that the altered job description did not.
Citing anonymous sources, the student newspaper said Kraus attended a Student Senate Internal Affairs meeting with senate leaders in which he gave them a written statement. In the letter, published by The Battalion, he challenges the appropriateness of an impeachment proceeding but also apologized for his actions.
"While my behavior was absolutely incorrect, this was a one-off incident due to the relation of Hunter and myself," he wrote. "I apologize further to the Student Senate, my Executive Cabinet, and the Student Body as a whole for acting in an unethical manner."
According to the SGA Code, approval from one-third, or 22 members, of the Student Senate is required to file for Kraus' impeachment. But The Battalion reported that a petition had gathered up to 43 signatures.
Kraus, however, filed an appeal to the student government Judicial Court which issued an injunction. A gag order is in place while the judicial court, a court of seven student justices, decides if impeachment will proceed.
"As of right now we're waiting on a judicial trial, and from there we can go see if an actual senate trial will happen after that," said The Battalion assistant news editor Nico Gutteridge.
Which is where these two student journalists see a major difference between the Aggie impeachment process and Attorney General Ken Paxton.
"While they both might be on trial right now, or soon to be at least for Hudson Kraus, they're completely not comparable," Renfroe said. "I mean, as Aggies, we always want to hope the best for each other. Aggies, we follow our own moral code, our Aggie core values, so we always want to hope for the best," for everyone involved, she said.
A judicial trial is expected to take place between now and the next Student Senate meeting on Sept. 27.
