A membership dispute between a student and Wichita State University’s Formula SAE and Baja SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) racing teams has escalated to the Student Government Association’s Supreme Court. During this hearing, each party gave their verbal statements regarding the situation, which were reviewed by a panel of student judges.
The court must decide whether Joseph Robertson’s removal from the engineering organizations complied with the team bylaws.
Robertson, who was stripped of his membership from both Baja and Formula in January, alleged that he was unjustly removed from these organizations as retaliation.
According to Robertson, his removal was in response to him alerting authorities to a potential safety hazard occurring in the club shop that involved other members consuming alcohol while operating power tools and dangerous machinery. He also stated that he was not given the proper one-week notice of expulsion as required by the bylaws of Formula SAE.
“I was notified of my removal on that Monday, February 9,” Robertson said. “I had no warnings, no prior knowledge of anything this serious, and was utterly blindsided by this decision.”
In response, Gavin Barnes, the president of Formula SAE, defended the decision to remove Robertson by arguing that Robertson had met the organization’s three-strike infraction policy for removal.
From Barnes, “Article Two, Section 83 reporting and escalation of serious violations. In the administrative review, we determined there have been three strikes.”
Barnes said the first strike was an incident in October 2025 where Robertson caused a fire, allegedly due to improper and unsafe usage of equipment. While no parties were injured, Barnes stated that the situation could have been fatal if another member had not intervened.
For the second incident, Barnes alleged Robertson caused upwards of $500 in damages to a club car when he had another vehicle pulled from storage with a forklift without the proper authorization.
The third incident involved an allegation that Robetson made an inappropriate comment in close proximity to an anonymous female member. No external complaint was filed related to the harassment, and the allegation was handled entirely internally, according to statements made by Barnes during the hearing.
Barnes argued, “Harassment qualifies as severe misconduct, eligible for immediate escalation,” justifying the immediate removal of Robertson from the organization.
Also in response, Carter Stahly, the president of the Baja SAE, said that Robertson had joined the club at some point during winter break of this year. He was then promoted to an active member. This process usually takes upwards of a full semester, but due to Robertson’s work over the break, he was fast-tracked, Stahly said.
Robertson was removed from Baja SAE on Jan. 21, according to the presentation, after Baja SAE had discovered he had been expelled from Formula SAE previously. Stahly said that this decision was made after a long meeting with senior and executive members of the organization.
He claimed that the verdict was decided due to fear of retaliation from Robertson against Formula SAE, and that this would damage Baja SAE’s public image. He did not specify what kind of retaliation he was worried about.
“If he retaliates toward Formula [SAE], he’d be doing it underneath the Baja name,” Stahly said. “Which would be a disgrace to the Baja name on campus.”
This, alongside the forklift incident, resulted in a two-thirds majority vote from the executive members to remove Robertson from the club effective immediately.
“This was not a decision made in haste,” Stahly said. “It was not a decision made lightly, but ultimately, we did end up coming towards the decision of complete removal [of Robertson] from Baja SAE”
Robinson argued that neither organization provided formal written notice before removal.
While the court’s ruling will determine Robertson’s status, its implications extend to how student organizations handle documentation, enforce safety standards and conduct disciplinary proceedings. The Student Government Association has not yet announced its decision, but will release an interim decision at some point this week in the SGA newsletter.
