At the end of last Tuesday’s ASMSU Academic Assembly meeting, Monica Leslie, a representative for the College of Communication Arts and Sciences, calmly wished her colleagues a Happy Thanksgiving - then she resigned.

Leslie, who has been active in MSU’s undergraduate student government, said she felt it was the appropriate time to inform everyone of her decision because she didn’t want to disrupt the business that needed to get done.

The communication freshman said time commitments, internal conflicts and lack of communication with administrators were reasons for her resignation.

“I wanted to learn how the system worked - and I learned a lot, but I still have a lot to learn,” Leslie said. “I have other things I want to focus on, and now it will be easier to do those things.”

She said she will continue to be a member of the University Student Commission and its current work with the East Lansing City Council.

While a representative, Leslie helped spearhead the effort to put a voting student seat on the MSU Board of Trustees and was vocal on many other issues, including student-police relations.

Leslie said she was frustrated with putting forth so much effort and seeing no results. She encourages students to get involved if they want to see progress with these issues.

Leslie said events regarding miscommunication with the Board of Trustees about a forum two weeks ago wasn’t the main factor in her decision, but it was part of it.

“I’m a PR person and that was all damage control, but if we don’t have everybody working on it, it’s going to do the same thing.” Leslie said. “Students need to get fired up if they really want to see change.”

Matt Clayson, chairperson for Academic Assembly, said he felt Leslie left on her own terms and respects her decision to focus on things outside the organization.

Clayson said Leslie’s efforts to create a student trustee will be her legacy and something the new joint committee formed during the forum will continue to work on.

“The committee will work on improving the relations with the board and prevent this misunderstanding from happening again,” Clayson said.

Jeanette Lantzy, vice chairperson for external affairs for Academic Assembly, said Leslie’s resignation was a true loss, especially for someone who wanted to make a difference.

“It’s just sad to lose someone with such close ties to the assembly,” she said.