Vanderbilt Student Government President Hananeel Morinville, a senior, and Senator Sevaan Prestipino, a sophomore, are reportedly in disagreement following a set of vetoes of Senate bills exercised by Morinville and the executive branch. Prestipino alleged that these recent vetoes targeted bills he proposed. 

Prestipino and other senators believe Morinville’s vetoes may be due to the Senate’s recent rejection of Morinville’s proposed bill that would change the qualifications required of candidates running for VSG president and vice president. Morinville and Prestipino both campaigned for VSG president in spring 2024, and some VSG members believe the new requirements were proposed to prevent Prestipino from running again. 

Vetoes

On Dec. 12, 2024, Morinville vetoed resolutions 24-25-09 and 25-25-11 — both of which were passed previously by the Senate on Dec. 3. Resolution 24-25-09, titled “The Resolution to Establish Women’s Health Products Accessibility in Residential Bathrooms,” would have expanded the availability of menstruation products to all bathrooms on campus, including all academic buildings and dining halls. Resolution 25-25-11 — “The V.A.N.T.A.G.E Act” — would allow VSG to plan and host a senior ball. According to article III, section I, clause 2 of the VSG Constitution, the president has the power of executive oversight and can use their veto power “over all motions passed by the Senate.”

Morinville explained how she believes she lawfully executed her power as president in accordance with the constitution regarding her choice to veto. 

“Throughout last semester, several senators proposed a few bills that lacked substance or were redundant, so I had no choice but to veto those bills,” Morinville said in an email to The Hustler. “One of the [vetoed] bills called for bathrooms on campus to have hygiene products, which is an initiative that already exists on campus. I can’t sign a bill for something that’s already [been done].” 

In 2021, VSG passed and implemented a three-tier process to incorporate menstrual products around campus bathrooms. The dispensers were originally placed in high-traffic areas on campus and have expanded to most places on campus since the program’s implementation.

Sophomore and VSG Senator Nadeem Badruz Zaman said he disagrees with Morinville’s argument because Resolution 24-25-09 would expand access to hygiene products beyond the range guaranteed by the previous program. 

“[Resolution] 24-25-09 was vetoed because Morinville said there was already a similar initiative sponsored by VSG,” Zaman said. “However, upon further consultation, we learned that [24-25-09] did not have anywhere near the same scope or coverage as the VSG Senate Bill.”

Motion to the VSG Judicial Court

On Jan. 15, Prestipino, along with 11 other senators, sent a motion to Chief Justice Robert Lowther, a senior, of the VSG Judicial Court declaring that they did not receive notification of Morinville’s action and arguing that the vetoes were unconstitutional.

“We interacted with the rest of the Senate to gather statements and were unable to find a single senator who was aware of the vetoes,” Prestipino said. “It was a widespread upset and unified response.” 

According to section 2, clause 7.2 of the VSG Constitution Statutes, the Senate must be notified within 24 hours of when a veto power is executed. Furthermore, according to VSG Constitution Statutes section 2, clause 7.1, the president must sign or veto a piece of legislation “within 30 calendar days of the passing of the legislation” by the VSG Senate. Morinville said she appropriately notified both the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Senate about her choice to veto the bills within the 30-day period allotted to her by the statutes. 

The VSG Judicial Court filed its legal decision on Jan. 20, in which the justices confirmed Morinville had notified Thor Hammer and William Song, the speaker and deputy speaker, respectively, following her decision to veto the resolutions. Morinville said she believes Prestipino’s choice in filing the legal motion alongside the Senate was solely in rejection of her vetoes. 

“[Prestipino], who did not like that I exercised my veto power, took it upon himself to bring this to the judicial court arguing that I violated the VSG statutes,” Morinville said. “As someone who has been in VSG since freshman year where I began as a senator, I am well aware of the statutes.” 

Prestipino said he filed the motion as he believed Morinville intentionally hid some bills from the Senate so that they could not vote on them.  

“The Senate can overturn vetoes, and a president could keep vetoes from being overturned by hiding them,” Prestipino said. “This came off as hiding vetoes so as to prevent [the] Senate from being able to overturn them.”

VSG Vice President Ellie Kearns did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Prestipino also spoke to the impact of Morinville’s vetoes, saying he believes Morinville’s conflicting views toward him also prohibited him from filling an open Speaker of the Senate position. 

“Speaker Hammer informed me personally that [Morinville] said [if] I [were] to run for speaker and win, she would veto every single bill from the Senate to spite me until I resigned,” Prestipino said. “It’s been a year, and I don’t understand why [she] wants to somehow get back at me. I’m just a chill guy trying to get paper towels.”

In its decision, the court emphasized the need for better communication among VSG leadership to prevent a similar situation from occurring in the future.

“This regrettable situation is the result of poor communication and highlights tension between the Senate and the Executive Branch,” the decision reads. “Members from each branch of government should take steps to ameliorate their relationship and to improve cross-body communication.”

Proposed changes to VSG presidential campaigns

In November 2024, Resolution Bill 24-25-08, provided to The Hustler by both Prestipino and Zaman, was proposed to the Senate by Morinville. The bill read that VSG would amend its statutes and incorporate a clause that would require each VSG presidential and vice presidential candidate to meet experience qualifications before running a campaign. 

“A presidential candidate must have attained junior standing with two years of experience in two different branches or sophomore standing with two full years of experience in two different branches of VSG,” the bill states. “The [vice-presidential] candidate must have one year of experience, and transfer students must have a year of experience in VSG before running for president or [vice president].”

According to Zaman, this bill was discussed on the Senate floor, and, after a debate between the executive and Senate, it was struck down. Zaman argued this bill was made to stop Prestipino from running for VSG president if he chose.

“For a host of reasons — namely Morinville’s failure to justify the bill, the perception that the bill’s goal was to disqualify [Prestipino] for president and concerns over the bill being anti-democratic — it failed to pass the Senate,” Zaman said. 

Zaman alleged that Morinville deliberately chose to veto any passed bills after the Senate struck down her bill to change campaign qualifications. 

“This created the impression that [Morinville] deliberately vetoed our bills as a reaction to us tanking her bill, something that managed to unite both sides of the Senate in opposition against the president and effectively mobilized the Senate for a political war,” Zaman said.

Future of VSG

Despite this situation, Zaman expressed hope for future unity between the Senate and the executive. 

“I believe that, moving forward, the speakers must do their due diligence to inform the Senate of all presidential actions, unless we wish to see the breakdown of VSG institutions and all-out war between the Senate and president,” Zaman said.

Morinville said that, in terms of credibility, there should be more transparency throughout the entire student government, specifically the Senate. 

“A problem that I’ve repeatedly pointed out in this year’s Senate is that several senators, including [Prestipino], are more concerned about serving their personal interests rather than serving their constituents,” Morinville said. “[Kearns] and I have overly prioritized transparency.”

Morinville said she believes VSG is heading in the right direction in terms of involvement with the student body. 

“More student orgs have received funding, we expanded the regalia fund and the GAP [Graduate and Professional] fund, we’ve invited the former president of the [American Civil Liberties Union] to campus, rebuilt our relationship with the chancellor and provost, created a fund to reimburse students for textbooks and class supplies and we’re currently working on adding more restaurants to the Taste of Nashville program,” Morinville said. “I think we’ve successfully challenged the idea that ‘VSG does nothing,’ and I hope next year’s president and vice president will continue the work we’ve started.”

Prestipino said he believes that once VSG puts personal conflicts aside, the organization has a bright future. 

“So long as VSG doesn’t attempt to prevent students they dislike from running for office, VSG’s election system seems strong,” Prestipino said. “As for me, as long as VSG is a corrupt circus I can tame, and, while campaigning, I can raise money and spread laughter — which seems to be the case — it’s likely I will be around.”