The senate rejected a motion to move forward with impeachment proceedings against Carroll Hall senator Charlie Bacon on Wednesday, who the Judicial Council recommended impeaching due to his seven total absences from weekly senate meetings. The final vote was eight in favor and 24 against, as the senate decided there was insufficient evidence to proceed with a trial.
Before the hearing, Bacon kept his remarks brief. “I’m hoping to not get impeached. I just missed the attendance sheet,” he said.
According to Judicial Council’s Bill of impeachment, signed by Judicial Council vice president Elijah Jones, Bacon’s seven absences violated Section 4.4 of the student senate bylaws, which state, “Voting members may have no more than six (6) absences during their term, and no more than three (3) of these absences may be unexcused.”
The charges echoed those the council brought against Michael Heffernan, who was impeached in September 2025 on similar pretexts.
“Having conducted a thorough review of the allegation, it is with a solemn duty that I report that the Ethics Council has recommended the impeachment of Carroll Hall Senator Charlie Bacon,” Jones wrote.
The impeachment bill cited a “perceived lack of care by Senator Bacon for his job as a Senator” as motivating their recommendation. According to the report, Bacon did not appear to testify before the ethics council, which found that other senators accused of similar violations showed greater commitment to their respective roles. During the meeting, Jones added Bacon had never given a reason for missing so many meetings.
O’Neill Family Hall senator Connor Klimek opened debate on the issue. “There are other senators who are missing meetings, and there are only four weeks left. I just don’t think there’s enough evidence that it is worth going through all this hassle,” he said.
Speaking in his defense, Bacon told the senate that his absence violation was unintentional and that he had believed he was within the absence limit. According to Bacon, his seventh absence resulted from forgetting to sign the attendance sheet, and he hadn’t realized he had violated the senate bylaws until receiving an email from the ethics council.
“I usually come in late, because I go to something that ends at 5:30, and I forgot to check in. And then the next week, I get an email that says I have an Ethics Council hearing. So I talked to Elijah after the following senate meeting, saying I just forgot to check in because I thought that was the meeting they got me for. So that’s kind of why I didn’t think it was too important to go to the Ethics Council hearing,” he said. “I’m committed to going to all of the remaining meetings.”
Bacon’s attendance at the Feb. 4 meeting was discussed in the session. Though marked as his seventh absence, Bacon claimed that he was present for that meeting. Max Barton, an observer at the meeting, came to his defense. Baumer Hall senator Matthew Dunn yielded time for Barton to make his case, which was met with senate applause.
“I do not think there’s enough evidence to move forward with this, not whatsoever. At the last meeting he’s accused of missing, I was in the room. He absolutely did not miss that meeting,” Barton said. “I would argue that we have to find evidence of actual, genuine harm. Now, for the majority of the meetings this man missed, he had a proxy. What harm was done to the Senate?”
Barton continued to say to the Senate, “Quite frankly, unless somebody can provide evidence of genuine harm done to people, I don’t think any reasonable person can stand for the possibility of even moving forward with this at this point.”
Welsh Family Hall senator Z Zavala took a more critical stance. She reaffirmed that the mission of the session was not to convict Bacon of any formal charges but rather to determine if the evidence was sufficient to go to trial. Zavala was critical of Bacon’s decision not to attend his ethics council hearing and felt the recorded seven absences were enough to prompt further investigation.
“You, as a representative of your job, chose not to clear your name against an accusation that you were facing on behalf of your dorm members. You, as a senator, should have that right and should feel that duty to represent them properly,” she said. “We owe a duty. When we decided to run for senate, there were grounds for this. Whether or not we’re going to actually impeach you is a different point. The point is that we do have enough evidence and unlike others, who actually apologize for it, you have done nothing so far.”
After under 10 minutes of debate, the senate proceeded to a vote. Since the motion concerned whether to hold a future trial rather than impeachment itself, only a simple majority was required. The measure failed, drawing eight in favor and 24 opposed, with five abstentions. Bacon will therefore serve out the remainder of his term as senator for Carroll Hall, which will conclude on April 1.
