By TRAVIS HIGHFIELD
editor-in-chief 

With a charming smile and a deep Southern drawl, Ethan Holliman plays every bit the role of a politician, only now without the office.

Following his abrupt dismissal from the Student Advisory Council Retreat held Aug. 1 through Aug. 3 at the College of Coastal Georgia in Brunswick, Ga., Holliman was removed from his position as president of the Student Government Association by former Director of Student Activities Eddie Howard, Jr. Former Vice President Andrew Phillips has since accepted the role of president with JoAnna Molina filling the vacant vice president position.

Holliman’s dismissal from the retreat, Phillips said, was the result of an altercation between Holliman and the University System of Georgia’s former Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Tonya Lam.

The retreat, which featured several activities to promote camaraderie between student government presidents throughout the University System of Georgia, usually requires prior permission to miss any particular event. Holliman contends that he was given permission to miss the 2-hour long ropes course that was to take place Aug. 2, but was confronted by Lam after the activity for being the only president not in attendance.

“I was given no indication that it would be a problem if I did not participate in the ropes course,” said Holliman in a letter to The Bell Ringer. “I was certainly not aware that if I missed the activity I would be asked to leave by the conference leadership committee. Surprisingly, Ms. Lam denies our original conversation and now claims that she ‘denied my request.’ I must clearly state that Ms. Lam’s new position regarding our conversation is false.”

By missing the ropes course, Holliman voided a contract that he signed on the first day of the retreat that stated participants are required to attend all activities for the duration of the event. When told that he must leave the retreat, Lam alleges Holliman intimidated her after she grabbed the contract from his hands, Phillips said.

“I was told that she snatched it from him,” said the political science major. “I guess he had it in his hands and wanted to make a copy of it. That’s what Ethan told me: That she snatched from him and he snatched it back from her. Ms. Lamb sent Eddie Howard an email basically saying everything that had happened. Apparently after the whole snatching of the contract happened, it escalated and I don’t know if he raised his voice or whatever, but she felt intimidated to a certain extent that she called security.”

With the evidence that was presented to him, Howard said that he was then able to make an informed decision to remove Holliman from his position as president of SGA.

“He was removed as a result of a violation to the student government constitution,” said the acting assistant vice president for student life. “As the adviser of the student government association, I have the right to remove any senator or student executive officer for a just cause if I deem that it is necessary. There are times when, in a rare occasion, that I will remove a student just because I don’t think their behavior reflects what I feel should be representative of our student body. When and if I remove any student, they have the ability to repeal my decision to the dean of students.”

Holliman elected to not appeal Howard’s decision to remove him from office. He said he believes his removal is the result of a long history of disputes with Howard over the role of the student government in Augusta State University’s future.

“To be honest, it is obvious to me that Mr. Howard decided to capitalize on the accusations made against me because he found it politically advantageous to remove me from office,” Holliman said. “No doubt, we have had disagreements in the past regarding policy and the future jurisdiction of the student government at Augusta State. In fact, during my tenure as vice president, Mr. Howard attempted to remove me as chair of the student senate because I made the comment that the SGA was truly run by a dictatorship under the guise of a democracy due to his constant interference.”

Past incidents played no role in the decision, Howard said, as the single incident that occurred at the retreat was enough to warrant Holliman’s removal.

“When he was vice president, we had conflicts in regards to what his role should be as vice president and what my role should be as adviser,” Howard said. “We had to work through those issues, but those particular situations, in my opinion, had nothing to do with my decision to remove him. He could have not had any confrontation with me (prior) and based on what he did at (the SAC retreat), I would have still done the same thing.”

Holliman, who is no longer enrolled at Augusta State, is currently working as a personal assistant for Lee Anderson, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Congress. He plans to reenroll for the spring semester to continue his studies.

Howard said he stands behind his decision to remove Holliman.

“I would not have removed him unless I felt like there was a very good reason to remove him because I knew the person that was elected by the student body to be the SGA president is a significant thing,” he said. “My thought would be, as an adviser, my senators would understand that I would definitely not do that unless I felt like it was extremely necessary to do. I would also not remove a person like that unless I had a conversation, at that point, with my vice president because I don’t take the removal of an elected official lightly. If I had the opportunity to do it again I would probably do the exact same thing.”