Sophomore Senator on Legislation Rebecca Shrago announced her resignation before the Student Council (StuCo) on Tuesday, citing discontent with the direction of the group and its immobility on a variety of issues.
She also noted several conflicts over the interpretation of the new StuCo bylaws, which had to be written when the student body ratified a new constitution that effectively dismantled the group and then reorganized it under a new set of rules.
This incident is the most recent of several resignations and withdrawals from StuCo and from council elections that have taken place since the passage of the new constitution. Most of those who chose to remove themselves claimed difficulties or discouragement regarding StuCo's new structure.
Senior Iverson Long, president of StuCo, tried to dissuade Shrago, but she elected to make the decision official at the group's weekly meeting.
"I thought she was very outspoken and that she was one of the people who could take StuCo places," Long said.
Shrago said, "I tried so hard to make this government work, even though I was not in support of its reorganization. I have doubts that it will be effective one day."
Though she admitted that her job tended to be difficult and controversial, "this went farther than it should have," Shrago said. "I often felt very isolated about my interpretation of the bylaws. I felt as though no one understood my reasoning and that no one was willing to accept it."
Shrago was one of four StuCo members on last year's Committee on Legislation who wrote the new bylaws.
Sophomore Jared Ede, Senator on the Committee for Authorization, commented that he and Shrago were adversaries to a certain extent. "We'd disagree on about 50 percent of the issues StuCo debated. It's not wholehearted dissent; I just have different views."
Extended debates, some of which Shrago claimed would last up to 45 minutes without addressing the interests of the student body, greatly contributed to her decision to leave.
"We often spent more time arguing over issues that concerned only Council members," she said.
Ede agreed that debates often took place, but said that such debate was important. "We're always going to have long debates -- that's the nature of the system," Ede said. "If there is an issue, we debate it until everything is clear."
A dispute over whether members should be penalized for missing meetings became heated recently.
"I wanted a punishment incurred if Council members were consistently not showing up for meetings, because that's not doing their job," Shrago said. "This was met with much more criticism than I had expected. It made me question whether or not [other members] were dedicated to making StuCo a morally accountable and representative institution."
Senior Senator for the Committee on Legislation, Russ Hayden, said that the future of the committee is still somewhat uncertain.
"[Shrago] was definitely a leader because there were so many new members this year," Hayden said. "They needed to know how to act, respond, and hold themselves accountable. I think my committee has it under control, but Rebecca was an incredibly dedicated member. It's a shame that she left."
He said that the content of debate within StuCo has changed, leading to Shrago's discontent.
"It's moved from our duties to procedural issues, which was one of Rebecca's complaints," Hayden said. "Our responsibility has been split up to the committees, which I don't think has necessarily hurt us, but it's got a different focus."
Long said that the concerns Shrago outlined were part of the problems he spoke out on when he ran for president.
"I learned a lot from StuCo and I will miss it," Shrago said. "But I think it has many obstacles to overcome."
