Four executive members resigned from the Student Government Association (SGA), citing personal reasons.
The resignations of President Nadia Gorski, Vice President of Academic Affairs Jamie Gusrang, Vice President of Community Relations Caitlin Stinneford, and Speaker of the Senate, Jesse Place, caused a turnover of executive board members.
A number of senators have resigned as well.
According to SGA co-advisor Kevin Maldonado, these members resigned for different reasons. "I know it looks like a domino effect, but it was a coincidence," Maldonado said.
Gusrang said her resignation was influenced by the members' move away from common goals. "Basically, I didn't like the direction of the leadership," Gusrang said. "I think there's a lot of distrust (within the SGA)."
Gusrang, who served on the executive board for two academic years, helped the College plan the academic transformation last year. She said her resignation, "was a hard decision."
Jesse Place, who served as speaker of the senate last spring, gave similar reasons for his resignation. According to Place SGA was experiencing leadership trouble last year.
Though Place said SGA "has a lot of great people in it," he also said that the new executive board lacks experienced leaders.
President Christina Puglia disagrees.
"I think that the board is newer, but at the same time, they are so motivated and ready to
take on issues for the student body, that their enthusiasm outweighs their inexperience," she said.
Place said that Puglia put her own interests before those of the students and of SGA members.
"(Puglia) turned her back on
some of the most effective leaders," Place said.
"I believe the people who were truly dedicated to helping students stayed to fulfull their role as leaders," Puglia said.
"In choosing the board, I had the senate and the student body foremost in my mind," she added.
Maldonado also has confidence in the new executive board.
"The students who filled in these positions are phenomenal," he said.
Though he acknowledged it is unfortunate for SGA to lose members, he said the resignations did not hurt the organization as much as they could have because they occurred early in the semester.
Gorski echoed Maldonado's optimism about the capabilities of the new executive board.
"(Puglia) is a wonderful person for the job," Gorski said. "She's not only my best friend, but also a tremendous leader. She stepped up to the plate, and will do an outstanding job in the upcoming year."
According to Gorski, she left the SGA for personal reasons.
"I had to do what was best for the organization," Gorski said.
"Resigning was the best thing to do with what was going on."
