General Studies Student Council’s VP of communications resigned in protest on Wednesday, following the council’s hotly-debated appointment of a new VP of finance on Tuesday.
Mahogany Wright, GS, resigned her position after voicing her opposition to GSSC suspending its bylaws in order to appoint Michael Oakley, now GSSC’s VP of finance, to his position. Jacqueline Thong, president of GSSC, received and accepted Wright’s resignation early Wednesday afternoon.
“This resignation is voluntary and has been decided based upon the series of events surrounding the vacancy of the VP of Finance role,” Wright said in a letter of resignation.
Wright declined to comment on her resignation. But Joshua Lewin-Jacus, the previous VP of finance whose vacancy Oakley is filling, said that Wright’s resignation may have been a long time coming.
“When we talked about putting Michael [Oakley] in this position in the spring, she said that she would resign if we did that,” Lewin-Jarcus said. “She didn’t have any good reason for that, other than her personal feelings against him … sort of her interpretation of his personality, which I thought was little bit cursory.”
Lewin-Jacus was elected VP of finance last semester, but had to leave the position after transferring to Columbia College.
In the spring, when GSSC had conversations about how to fill the vacancy, they considered filling it with the runner-up, among other processes. Ultimately, the decision was made to open up the nominations in the fall to the student body. Before reaching that conclusion, some council members suggested filling the position with Oakley, who had the position of Chief Finance Officer at the time—a suggestion that Wright opposed immediately, Lewin-Jarcus said.
When the council reconvened in September, nominations were opened to GS students, resulting in seven candidates being interviewed by the GSSC executive board and three candidates going before GSSC members. During a closed meeting, the council asked to have the nomination process opened again to the student body, having not agreed on who to appoint.
At this Tuesday’s council meeting, some members expressed concern about how long it would take to reopen the nomination process. That resulted in a vote to suspend the bylaw stating that nominations for candidates in vacant positions be opened to the GS student body.
Lewin-Jarcus said opening the position again would cost an extra three weeks, and would not have brought a more experienced candidate than Oakley.
“When we opened it up to the student body, only a handful expressed interest,” Lewin-Jarcus said. “Realistically, waiting three weeks would you get a candidate that’s ready, or just the same people?”
But a handful of members, including Wright, claimed the council had no authority to suspend its bylaws, a contention she repeated in her letter of resignation.
“Through the manipulation of the constitution and bylaws, as well as the character and actions of individuals that has been displayed this past summer and week, I have lost respect for those persons that have been charged with leading this organization,” Wright said.
Thong said she didn’t know what Wright was referring to, since Wright, like everyone else on council, had the opportunity to voice her opinions. But Thong said she respected Wright’s decision.
“I would have hoped that she would have served out her entire term because she was elected to the position, but disagreements happen all the time on councils,” Thong said.
Now, GSSC will open nominations for the VP of communications position to the student body, with the hope of filling the vacancy soon.
“It will be challenging finding someone else for the role,” Thong said. “But I really believe that GS students are really talented and they will step up.”
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