The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Academic Assembly voted 18-0 last night to impeach President Galen Foulke on grounds that he is in violation of the USG Constitution.

A joint session of the assembly and the USG Senate will be held Nov. 30 to determine if Foulke should be removed from office. A two-thirds majority of the joint session would be required for such a removal.

"There has been some discontent for quite some time," Assembly President Mark Levin said after last night's meeting.

The assembly claimed that Foulke failed in his duty to represent both USG's and students' interests when he formed a commission to look into revamping the USG Constitution.

Last night's resolution said impeachment was the only action "to reconcile the detriment created by the conduct and actions of the President."

Foulke said the constitutional review commission he created was a mandate by the student body because it was on his campaign's platform.

"It's a shame that I have to face such repeated attempts at distraction," Foulke said, while vowing to continue to put his duties as president "No. 1" in his mind.

Tension between the assembly and Foulke has grown in recent weeks. Levin filed a grievance with the USG Supreme Court late last month, claiming Foulke was in violation of executive orders the assembly issued earlier this year.

But the court decided last night that Foulke could not be held responsible for the executive orders because assembly did not have the right to issue them under a disputed copy of the USG Constitution.

In the call for impeachment, the assembly also cited other alleged failures falling under the category "malfeasance," the only grounds for impeachment in the USG Constitution.

Levin said last night's activities were aimed at investigating Foulke's alleged malfeasance.

"We did not try to punish somebody for any crimes tonight," he said. A punishment, he said, would only come after a full trial in joint session.

In a lengthy and detailed resolution outlining the rules of the joint session, the assembly decided to create a four-person committee to set rules for the Nov. 30 trial. Foulke, Supreme Court Chief Justice Emily de Mers, and a representative from the assembly and the Senate will sit on the committee.

"We are holding ourselves responsible for holding a fair and reasonable trial," Kelly Gregg, College of the Liberal Arts representative, said. "We passed precedents the best we could ... and feel this is fair and thorough."

Ashley Harris, College of the Liberal Arts senator, said a presidential impeachment has not occurred within USG in nearly 10 years and underscored the importance of establishing guidelines for the process.

USG Vice President Luke Adams said the impeachment was an example of the assembly interfering with USG operations.

"They're pretending to do the students a service when, really, they're just hindering it," he said.