Student Assembly President Zora deRahm '27 and seven other high-ranking Assembly leaders announced a resolution on Thursday that, if passed, would limit the independence of the Office of Ethics.

Resolution 7: Executive Governance Reform would require that students appointed to serve in the Office of Ethics, which is currently an independent body that oversees the Assembly, to pass a two-thirds confirmation vote by the S.A.

The proposed resolution would also establish a chief of staff position, which is appointed by the president, and a vice president for policy position. These positions would replace the current vice president of internal operations role, which is currently filled by a student body election. David Suarez '27, the current V.P. of internal operations, sponsored Resolution 7.

"The membership of the Office of Ethics is not selected by the student body," deRham pointed out in defense of the proposal at the meeting. Before the end of each academic year, the outgoing Office of Ethics voting members elect the incoming director by a simple majority vote. The incoming director then appoints the new voting members.

deRham added that it would be helpful to have "some sort of line of protection by people who are regularly selected by the student body" -- a reference to the Assembly at large.

Alhassan Bangura '25, a voting member of the Office of Ethics, addressed deRham during the meeting, questioning the resolution's development process.

"Why wasn't the Office of Ethics consulted on such a major change?" Bangura said. "We've been blindsided by this."

"They said the same thing about Resolution 2," deRham told The Sun when asked about the claim that Assembly leadership blind-sided the Office of Ethics.

The Assembly passed Resolution 2 in September, which made fundamental changes to the Assembly's bylaws, prompting the Office of Ethics to vote on the ethical implications of passing such resolutions. The Office of Ethics voted on Sept. 1 that the passing of Resolution 2 was "unethical."

"[The two-thirds confirmation vote] is language that existed prior to Resolution 2," deRham said. "We've reverted the section about the Office of Ethics to what it was prior, aside from the fact that it is permanently an independent office. The goal was in no way to blindside them."

Resolution 2 changed the Office of Ethics -- which previously fell under the president's office -- to an independent body.

Sophia Arnold '26, the director of the Office of Ethics and a Sun columnist, told The Sun that Resolution 7 would eliminate a provision in the Assembly's bylaws that states "Independent offices shall not be accountable to the authority of the Assembly" and that "Members of the offices shall only be removed by the office."

"This, along with the two-thirds [provision], is a concern for us," Arnold said. She added that it is difficult for bodies "that hold the Assembly accountable for ethical lapses" to be "subject to the continual appointments" of that same Assembly.

Arnold also expressed concerns about the policy review committees that Resolution 7 would establish, noting that, in her understanding, it would "allow exec to appoint a very small body to review nearly all resolutions."

"We do not need committees to approve resolutions that might otherwise be popular with the Assembly," Arnold said.

Saad Razzak '26, the Academic Policy Committee Chair, said the creation of a chief of staff position would be "undemocratic."

"It's not great to take away power from an elected official and give it to someone who is an appointed and confirmed official," Razzak said in an interview with The Sun.

deRham said that Resolution 7 is currently in its beginning stages.

"[Resolution 7] has been sent to the president's office for pre-review," deRham told The Sun. "We really put a lot of time and effort into the beginning stages of this resolution so that the versions showed to the Assembly [and] to the public throughout these next few weeks is the best it can be."

Kendall Eddington '27 contributed reporting.