By Jennifer Ward and Arlenis Marmolejos
The Purchase Student Government Association (PSGA) Senate impeached General Programming Coordinator (GPC) Emani Blakney-Perryman with a vote of eight to three during an emergency meeting on Feb. 22 at The Stood’s Cinema Room.
Senators, club and services heads, and other attendees during the Senate meeting. (Photo by Arlenis Marmolejos)
About 50 people attended the meeting, with 12 voting senators present—some joined virtually. However, Nick Russo, a senator and Stood worker, rescinded his vote due to a conflict of interest.
The GPC plans and handles booking all non-major Stood events. Blakney-Perryman has been in this position since the Fall 2024 semester.
The resolution cited multiple accusations against Blakney-Perryman, including “creating a hostile work environment,” unprofessional use of profanity in Human Resource (HR) meetings, refusal to attend HR meetings, failure to comply with PSGA entities and provide information to supervisors, as well as, misinformation between E-Board members and advisors.
"I know my truth; this has been something that has been happening before my job. If those who are interested in hearing my side that wasn't stated, reach out to me directly," said Blakney-Perryman in a statement to The Phoenix.
The emergency meeting, led by PSGA Senate Chair Orion Morgan, lasted three and a half hours, running from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Some students, club and service heads, and PSGA Executive Board (E-Board) members shared their experiences with Blakney-Perryman before the vote.
Emani Blakney-Perryman sharing her side during the meeting. (Photo by Arlenis Marmolejos)
The PSGA E-Board introduced a resolution to the Senate on Feb. 20 to impeach Blakney-Perryman following allegations of misconduct that raised concerns among student club representatives. During the meeting, about 20 pages of evidence were distributed among attendees.
Clubs and service heads from the Organization for the African People in the Americas (OAPIA), Students of Caribbean Ancestry (SOCA), Latinos Unidos (LU), SubMag and Planned Parenthood made comments, along with Stood desk workers and Student Activities Director (SAD) Harley Colletti.
The meeting began to go through HR complaints, where participants spoke about concerns they had with Blakney-Perryman.
SubMag Director Kayla Dike began talking about an HR meeting held between her and Blakney-Perryman. Dike claimed Blakney-Perryman was unprofessional and brought up Dike being fired from a separate job.
Kayla Dike stood while sharing her experience during the meeting. (Photo by Arlenis Marmolejos)
Blakney-Perryman also claimed Dike "physically assaulted" her by shoving her in a doorway while walking into the Social Sciences Building, which Dike denied.
Another HR meeting that was mentioned surrounded a verbal altercation between Blakney-Perryman and OAPIA treasurer Ramata Diallo at the end of OAPIA’s Cypher Night held on Sept. 19 of 2024.
Blakney-Perryman alleged that Diallo refused to leave the Stood when Cypher Night ended at 11 p.m., claiming that the event was supposed to be shut down by then. Blakney-Perryman also alleged that due to personal problems with Diallo and OAPIA club heads, they refused to listen to her.
Blakney-Perryman claims acting SAD at the time, Garrett Abell, wanted to call the University Police Department (UPD) to shut down the event. However, Abell said he only wanted to call UPD because he felt the verbal altercation between Blakney-Perryman and Diallo was going to turn physical. Blakney-Perryman admitted to telling Diallo and those in the verbal fight to "kill yourself" and Diallo also admitted to calling her a "stupid bitch."
Ramata Diallo shrugged while sharing her experience in the meeting. (Photo by Arlenis Marmolejos)
During this topic, Blakney-Perryman said a lot of these personal fights happen because of friendships that form in the workplace.
“You’re getting your friends these jobs. Half these people, they’re friends with you,” Blakney-Perryman said in reference to those who work in the PSGA and club E-Boards. “That goes into the whole bias stuff. You don’t like me, these people don’t like me.”
“[The PSGA] is not a government because it doesn’t represent most people, it doesn’t represent what the collective interest of the community is,” said LU Treasurer Anthony Ramos in a statement to The Phoenix. “Most people who have been voted into positions are just voted in by their friends.”
Anthony Ramos (right) and others reading the evidence presented during the meeting. (Photo by Arlenis Marmolejos)
Tristan Keane-Negri, president of SOCA, criticized issues with The Stood’s booking process, having experienced difficulties in scheduling events like Carnival, Traffic Jam and Sextacy. “If we see the same recurring issues with the [booking] form, why is y’all not gonna change it?” Keane-Negri said in the meeting.
Tristan Keane-Negri raising his hand to speak during the meeting. (Photo by Arlenis Marmolejos)
PSGA Advisor Jessica Bullock recognized Blakney-Perryman’s control over the booking process but noted past frustrations, saying, “You do as you see fit, I am just telling you this is causing issues.”
It was mentioned that the impeachment resolution proposed splitting the GPC position between Colletti and Mitchell Barcus, the current Major Events Coordinator (MEC). If voted for the impeachment, they would equally divide the responsibilities and salary. However, both Blakney-Perryman and Nellie Duggan-Haas, PSGA office manager, pointed out that according to the bylaws, a student cannot hold more than one paid position within the PSGA at a time.
PSGA Vice President Rachael Girsang stated that both Barcus and Colletti can split the role due to this hearing being a “special circumstance,” as the annual Sextacy party is set to be in the Stood on March 7, and they needed to have the role filled by then.
PSGA E-Board listening to Jessica Bullock while she speaks. (Photo by Arlenis Marmolejos)
Regardless, some senators voiced concern over the bylaws and the power the PSGA holds to override them. “What’s even the point of the Constitution and the bylaws if you don’t follow them,” said Russo in the meeting. “You’re overriding the Constitution that you follow. This is something that you follow, you abide by, you get paid for.”
“The school likes to say ‘We’re the only [student government] that is fully student ran.’ No one is actually running it,” said Ramos in a statement to The Phoenix. “They’re just going off of bylaws that are probably years old they don’t actually read properly. I think it’s a fundamentally flawed system. This is not sustainable as any type of government.”
“The current E-Board, a lot of them technically have experience, but I just don’t see the level of care, dedication, passion, and initiative that I would expect from leaders and it’s disappointing to me,” said Duggan-Haas in a statement to The Phoenix. “I do wish [Bullock] tried harder to protect students like this…No one is actually working towards solutions.”
Duggan-Haas brought and read a counter-resolution that was distributed to the attendees, stating that many of the claims made against her were “subjective” or “inconsistent” and written in “vague language.”
Duggan-Haas addressing the room when reading her counter-resolution. (Photo by Arlenis Marmolejos)
In her counter-resolution, Duggan-Haas stated that while Colletti was facing personal health issues, Blakney-Perryman took on the duties of SAD and MEC for a month, without additional pay, before the positions were filled.
Colletti denied the claim, stating she was fulfilling her duties just days after undergoing a major surgery and had only missed one event. “You saying you took the role or duty of student coordinator is just false,” said Colletti in the meeting.
Harley Colletti (middle-right) holding up a "Vote Harley" sign from her previous election while sharing her experience. (Photo by Arlenis Marmolejos)
“[Blakney-Perryman] also talked about how she had to take the role of [MEC] and [SAD], and received no additional pay for it, but at the same time, it makes no sense,” said Barcus in a statement to The Phoenix. “How or if she questioned rather why that is, is that me and Harley are now taking over the position and will be receiving the additional pay. She also brought up personal matters.”
Some people criticized that the meeting began to get personal.
Attendees shocked at comments being made during the meeting. (Photo by Arlenis Marmolejos)
“At the end of the day, this meeting is an obvious kind of personal issues with a lot of clubs and a lot of personal beef that’s just being spilled out right now,” said PSGA President Sophia Pallozzi in a statement to The Phoenix.
“While we are presenting all of these things I think would also happen during the meeting is a lot of personal matters went into effect,” said Barcus. “I think to me at least what was interesting was the fact that she brought up in many moments that a lot of the clubs don’t like her for personal instances when that should not be brought up or taken into the workplace.”
Throughout the meeting, Blakney-Perryman solely faced and addressed Bullock, not turning to face the senators or other participants in the crowd, even when they made comments to Blakney-Perryman directly.
“I’m GPC I’m just handling clubs, that’s all I do,” said Blakney-Perryman in the meeting. “It makes me feel like yes it is biased. When we’ve had multiple HR meetings, have I not said I don’t feel supported, and that this is the stuff I’ve been going through for a whole semester? Are you listening to me again saying I don’t feel supported?”
“You keep saying we’re not supporting you, and I’m taking it personal,” said Bullock, commenting on how Blakney-Perryman was only looking at her throughout the meeting. “I’m trying to support you by telling you you have to help me, you have to tell me.”
Jessica Bullock (left) addressing Emani Blakney-Perrymann directly. (Photo by Arlenis Marmolejos)
Bernie Manzolillo, former GPC, shared in the meeting that he experienced many of the issues Blakney-Perryman was experiencing. He also shared how as a Stood worker, he has been bullied and threatened, leading to two current Stood workers sharing similar experiences.
Planned Parenthood Treasurer Estelle Socolov and Secretary Emily Edwards also gave statements regarding experiences they had with Blakney-Perryman. Socolov and Edwards claimed Blakney-Perryman made “judgemental” comments in a meeting where those attending shared their favorite sexual positions, a prompt allegedly given by Blakney-Perryman.
Socolov and Edwards also alleged Blakney-Perryman made “an insensitive comment on masturbation.” Blakney-Perryman also made comments regarding consensual non-consensual porn, saying those interested in this category should “seek help” during a meeting.
Emily Edwards (left) and Estelle Socolov (right) reading their statement during the meeting. (Photo by Arlenis Marmolejos)
Blakney-Perryman denied all of these allegations. “I’m not going to do this when people are going to sit here and lie about me, that’s something I would never lie about,” said Blakney-Perryman through tears.
“I already know impeachment I don’t even care anymore, because I’m not going to do this,” Blakney-Perryman continued. “Especially not for something like that. I would never say that I did that because I didn’t do that at all. Y’all are all against me and that’s fine, but I’m not going to have someone sit there and say something that is not true. I didn’t make anyone uncomfortable, I even asked other people that were part of it.”
At the end of the meeting, Blakney-Perryman was impeached and Colletti and Barcus were placed in the GPC position for the rest of the semester. Elections are currently being held to fulfill the position for the 2025-2026 academic year. Blakney-Perryman left during voting and was not present when the results were announced.
Attendees began clapping and cheering after hearing the results of the vote. (Photo by Arlenis Marmolejos)
Ashley Friedman, sustainability coordinator and voting member of the Senate, described the voting process as “really long, intense, and sad.” She added, “It seemed like most people in the room had similar experiences. Personally, I’ve never spoken to her before, but I did feel for her. I would've been an emotional wreck if I were in her position.”
“After the meeting ended it was clear that we should all be professional and respectful of each other, whether it be in or out of the workplace,” said Pallozzi in a statement to The Phoenix. “I wish no ill on Emani, and I hope students realize that having a high position at the Stood is strenuous work.”
Abell shared he wasn’t sure what to expect when the voting came, and that he felt conflicted on the results. “It was kind of messy overall. Everybody wanted to keep [the meeting] on track but that was kind of difficult given everything there was to discuss.”
Garrett Abell shrugging while hearing what was said during the meeting. (Photo by Arlenis Marmolejos)
“I really appreciate the senators and students for staying the whole time and listening to all of that. I know the information can be overwhelming sometimes, and a lot to retain and consider,” said Girsang in a statement to The Phoenix. “[The E-Board] came to this impromptu decision, and quickly came together, dedicating a lot of time to deliberate, discuss, and work out the details in short amount of time. Overall I truly believe that while this experience may be unfortunate in some aspects, it is important to hold people accountable for their actions.”
Bullock said in a statement to The Phoenix that a lot of issues brought up in the meeting she was unaware about. She encouraged students to utilize resources on campus. Bullock also said she felt the E-Board was trying to present the resolution professionally, not personally. “We do agree [Blakney-Perryman] did her job as far as the booking the Stood out and making sure there were events happening,” said Bullock. “It just wasn’t a good fit with everybody else as far as the communication and just working collaboratively with the clubs.”
Attendees listening to the meeting as evidence is shared. (Photo by Arlenis Marmolejos)
Duggan-Haas explained after the meeting, “I had a little more faith in people that they would see where Emani’s side of things—I was wrong to think that.”
She added, “I feel like this is enabling a behavior that is literally bullying and I don’t think we’re protecting the people who actually make the PSGA and The Stood run.”
“We are the only SUNY that has a solely student-run student government association,” Bullock said. “At the end of the day, these are policies: the Constitution, the bylaws, are there to help you [students] through the process. If you have a question, you can come to me and ask me the question and I will direct you back to whoever is supposed to help you with that situation.”
It should be noted that in the meeting it was brought up that two club heads admitted to previously having called Perryman a "bitch"/"stupid bitch". After the vote was announced, a third club head said "the wicked witch is gone." That's what I was referring to when I said the vote is enabling bullying.
We're holding Emani accountable for not being friendly towards people who treat her like that? But because she's never officially, properly reported incidents like that, they never experience consequences, and therefore, feel comfortable continuing on with it.
IMO impeaching her will change nothing. These issues have been going on for years with other people in her role. Something more structural needs to change.