Allison Campbell

Vishnu Avva, former SGA senator, speaks to the Student Senate on Aug. 30. Avva called for the resignation of Student Body President Iris Okere and Vice President Sophie Martins.

During the second Student Government Association Senate meeting of the year, former at-large senator Vishnu Avva called for the resignation of Student Body President Iris Okere and Vice President Sophie Martins.

Avva, who recently spoke to The Sunflower regarding the same topic, stated that the “corruption happening behind the scenes by the student body president” needed to be addressed.

In the spring of 2023, Avva applied for a legislative and policy affairs director position under the Okere-Martins administration. Avva, who served as an intern for Laura Kelly, Sen. Pat Pettey and Rep. Rui Xu, says he was “beyond qualified” for the role but would never come to learn if he was the most qualified because he was not granted an interview along with several other rejected applicants.

In his address to SGA, Avva said that many others, including six members of the president’s cabinet, did not apply for their nominated positions and were being held to a different standard than other applicants.

“I think with personal connections to the president, and especially then being in the Senate beforehand, and again, what we’ve noticed in the previous articles with conflict of interest with significant others,” Avva said. “I feel as though some people might put their personal relationships over what they should do.”

Avva said that it is possible that the accepted applicants were, in fact, the “most qualified applicants,” but the fact that not every candidate was interviewed and many positions were offered in advance hinders Okere’s ability to do so.

“I’m happy I didn’t get selected because I didn’t want to be part of something that did that,” he said

Avva called for the resignation of both Okere and Martins. Okere left the meeting shortly after the call for her resignation, and Martins refused to comment, stating that she and Okere needed to confer with Amy Nguyen, their public relations director.

“I’m happy because they’ve been leaving like touting their agenda the entire time with no pushback. I think there needs to be accountability,” Avva said. “If they’re … rushing to find a statement, it means they don’t know what to say, which means something hit them.”

While Okere and Martins have yet to address Avva’s claims, Avva hopes that by sharing his experience and speaking out on behalf of others, he can inspire positive reform within SGA.

“Speak out. Make your voice heard because if you don’t speak out, it’s just going to keep on going the same way,” Avva said. “If you speak out, then people are going to hear you and they might actually work to make a decision.”