Chatham Student Government’s (CSG) Vice President of Communications Elizabeth Ruszkoski ‘23 was impeached. Per CSG rules, the reasons for the impeachment were not publicly disclosed. 

On Wednesday, March 8, Ruszkoski received an email from CSG’s Executive President Abdul Malik ’23. It stated there were concerns about her conduct creating an unsafe, toxic environment in student government. Ruszkoski told the Communiqué that she originally thought this email related to her not coming to the previous meeting due to mental health issues. Instead, she believes the issue originated from a personal issue with a CSG member, she said.

Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Melissa Redding ’23 declined to comment on behalf of the organization in response to an interview request by the Communiqué.

According to Ruszkoski, “He believed my conduct was not acceptable, and he tried to get my honor code violated twice with two upper-level persons,” she said. “He decided that these actions were not enough, and he talked with people in and outside of CSG to have me impeached,” she said.

Ruszkoski described what she believed happened with the impeachment trial. 

“The evidence were texts that were jokes, but they were turned to harassment. Also, if I wanted to prove my evidence, then I would have to throw people under the bus, which is not in my character,” she said. 

She made the decision to not attend the trial and sent her resignation letter. She said CSG did not accept her resignation letter, and the impeachment trial proceeded. Ruszkoski was then emailed that she was officially impeached from her position as the vice president of communications. 

Ruszkoski shared frustrations about the impeachment process because she believed it was about a personal issue and that people only heard about the other member’s story. 

“It was coming from behind my back for weeks from people who I believed were friends as they were pulling private emails and texts,” she said. “I was guilty no matter what, and they wanted what they wanted and made it happen.” 

She is grateful for her time and the opportunities her position was able to provide, she said, but she hoped the impeachment could have gone differently. She wished there was a jury present to reduce the bias she felt affected the outcome of the trial.

“I have been quiet about it, but executive and non-executive members have been sharing information and I want to say my piece,” she said.

Because of this trial, Ruszkoski feels better equipped with knowing when to walk away from certain situations in the future. “Things are meant to happen for a reason whether as a lesson or a reward,” she said. 

When asked whether she has a message for members of CSG, she provided the following statement: 

“To the Senate as a whole, people are not just their position, and they are people in the Chatham community with real feelings and this was not the way.