Rick Telfer remains the president of Western’s Society of Graduate Students after a recall vote was defeated.

Graduate students assembled in North Campus Building Monday night to vote on Telfer’s presidential future after allegations were made about a conflict of interest.

A total of 750 votes were counted, with 425 votes against the motion, 320 for the motion and five spoiled.

A two-thirds majority was needed for the recall to pass.

“This past March I was elected with 58 per cent support. Tonight I was reaffirmed as the president of SOGS — with 57 per cent support,” Telfer wrote on his blog after the results were announced.

A blog entitled “Recall Rick” was published last week alleging a number of grievances against Telfer, claiming “conflict between his multiple commitments and affiliations have caused him to neglect his responsibilities to the SOGS membership.”

“This is not a trial or impeachment and we don’t need to do that to get a recall,” the blog read. “We only need to demonstrate that, through his own actions, Rick Telfer has shown that the Society would be better off with a different leader at the helm.”

The recall motion came shortly after a contentious campaign in support of holding a referendum on SOGS’ membership in the Canadian Federation of Students, a national student lobby group. When a pro-referendum petition was circulated, Telfer circulated a counter-petition, resulting in some controversy.

“I have been very open and honest about my support for student unity through the [CFS],” Telfer wrote. “Of course, my vocal support for [CFS] has made me a convenient political target for those seeking to discredit and weaken [CFS] — even before I was elected as president of SOGS.”

—Stuart A. Thompson