GSO passes resolution to censure Graduate School Dean
GSO claims Graduate School Dean Peter Vanable overstepped his power in blocking former officer Becca Vinciquerra’s pay and keycard access before her term ended. The organization alleges Vanable acted unprofessionally in a meeting attempting to reinstate Vinciquerra’s access. Christian Calabrese | Staff Photographer
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UPDATE: This post was updated at 7:45 p.m. on March 30, 2025.
Syracuse University’s Graduate Student Organization delivered a resolution to Graduate School Dean Peter Vanable Friday morning censuring him for alleged abuse of power and unprofessional conduct during a Feb. 21 executive board meeting. The university denied these allegations.
According to the resolution, Vanable blocked former GSO officer Becca Vinciquerra’s stipend and revoked her keycard access to the GSO office before her term ended. Vanable allegedly “refused to engage in democratic deliberation” in the meeting, the resolution reads.
In a Friday afternoon statement to The Daily Orange, an SU spokesperson said Vanable acted within his rights as dean since Vinciquerra is no longer a student.
During the Feb. 21 meeting with Vanable, GSO’s executive board discussed Vanable’s conduct and attempted to negotiate reinstatement of Vinciquerra’s pay and office access, GSO’s President Pro Tempore Avery Welna said. Vinciquerra had previously served as GSO’s director of external affairs.
Written by Welna, the resolution claims Vanable repeatedly interrupted members of the GSO board during the meeting. It also claims Vanable couldn’t provide proof of written policies that allowed him to unilaterally remove an elected GSO officer.
The resolution, passed at GSO’s Wednesday meeting, seeks to hold Vanable accountable for allegedly abusing his power over Vinciquerra and address his alleged actions, GSO members said.
“This resolution was first of all condemning the actions. We understood within our meeting that we were talked to in ways that were inappropriate, disrespectful and unacceptable, frankly,” Welna said. “And we felt that Dean Vanable conducted himself in a way that was unprofessional.”
She said Vanable revoked Vinciquerra’s access because she had completed her SU coursework, though Vinciquerra had not yet walked for graduation or completed her term limit in GSO.
The SU spokesperson said Vanable had the right to pull a stipend from a person no longer enrolled in SU’s Graduate School programs, regardless of their role in GSO.
The statement claims the dean “acted rightly” and in accordance with SU principles in revoking Vinciquerra’s stipend and office access.
“While some members of the GSO may not like this decision, the University must ensure that funds derived from student fees are used to benefit current students,” the SU spokesperson said in the statement.
The SU spokesperson cited Article III, Section 2, of GSO’s constitution, which states that officers are expected to be students “in residence at Syracuse University’s main campus” during their time in office.
In a Friday evening statement to The D.O., a GSO spokesperson said this “misrepresents” the GSO constitution.
The constitution also states only the GSO Senate has authority to remove an elected officer. The GSO spokesperson said the removal process was conducted unilaterally and “without respect” for Vinciquerra or adherence to GSO electoral and removal procedures.
The GSO spokesperson also said officer stipends are not funded by the university and are allocated from the annual graduate student fee.
“It is particularly troubling that the Dean has fixated on an arbitrary ‘principle’ while ignoring the blatant mistreatment of duly elected officers, along with the Graduate School’s failure to uphold SU’s professed principles of shared governance,” the GSO spokesperson said in the statement.
The resolution claims Vanable insinuated GSO could not manage its own self-governance and autonomy and attempted to shift responsibility for Vinciquerra’s access removal onto GSO leaders. It also alleges Vanable criticized GSO’s graduate student advocacy efforts.
Alexis Faison, GSO’s interim director of external affairs, said GSO is an independent organization that does not recognize Vanable as its advisor.
“The commentary that was made on his behalf was very demeaning to our roles as a graduate student body,” Faison said. “We were kind of compared to a registered student organization, however, we are a governing body of students.”
Faison said the executive board felt Vanable showed a disconnect in his understanding of the organization’s role and authority at the university, adding that GSO operates on behalf of the entire graduate student body.
“Dean Vanable acted in good faith and in accordance with University and GSO policies and bylaws. Any assertion that he did otherwise is false,” the SU spokesperson wrote.
