SA president resigns from office

By Galen Velonis

On Nov. 19, Jason Montague, the president of the Student Association, resigned from his position and all other positions relating to the presidency.

This announcement was made by Monty Flynn, director of student activities, at the Student Association meeting the same day. Flynn said, “We have a different announcement to make that affects you all. This morning we received an e-mail from Jason that he is resigning from his position as president and all related positions that the president has.”

Flynn said that Montague’s resignation was largely due to an inability to focus on his academic success with all the duties of the president. He said Montague had an issue with employment and transportation to and from campus. “He was faced with this decision in the summer,” said Flynn, who went on to say, “He just thought he could work it out. Time is crunching in – just as I’m sure it is with you with academics – and he set academics as his first priority.”

Montague’s resignation happened two weeks after Entertainment and Programming Coordinator Matthew Ramish resigned, which was announced at the Nov. 5 meeting. Administrators at the SA plan to go back to the bylaws, which govern the SA process. Flynn and Lisa Evaneski, the student leadership coordinator, plan to hold elections by paper ballot over a period of two days in the SA office of G-104 the week of Dec. 11. Nominations will be declared by the completion if a nomination packet, which has a tentative due date. The SA positions that need to be filled are president, entertainment and programming coordinator, and possibly the OCCA representative, according to Evaneski.

Many members of the SA community have had a variety of reactions. Both Flynn and Evaneski declined to comment after the meeting, saying they wanted first to talk to Montague.

Clubs and Organizations Coordinator Yogesh Patel, who has filled in for Montague ever since the resignation, expressed some regret for Montague’s leaving. “He was always there for you,” Patel said, remarking how much of a help Montague had been for the other SA officers.

A student volunteer for the SA, Alexander Feuerstein, offered his opinion on the matter of resignation: “It’s hard for them to be in a position where their school work is not overbearing.” He continued, “It would be nice if somebody viable would go into the position and would stay there. It’s been a little uneasy lately.” Feuerstein claimed that one of the resigned officers had not been fulfilling the standards of his position and the other had not had any time to fulfill his work.

Ryan Wood, the Future Educators representative, had a similar view of Montague’s resignation. “If he thought he wasn’t doing a good job, then it was the right thing for him to step down and let someone else take over,” he said.

Other members of the student populace were less worried about the situation itself. “I was a little surprised by it myself,” said Alex Perez, the International Club representative. He also added, “I think it should be easy to work though. I don’t think it’ll impact the way things are run too much.”