After repeated warnings to improve his performance as chair of the Freshman Class Council, Brandon Gualdoni resigned Monday evening.
The computer science freshman, who also is an Eagle Scout and member of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity, was replaced by James Madison freshman Karissa Chabot.
Freshman Class Council is a part of ASMSU, MSU's undergraduate student government.
"Some members of the council brought forward their concerns about Brandon's participation in events this year and his leadership position," Chabot said. She said the council voted to censure Gualdoni, which is a resolution disapproving of his actions.
"He indicated to me that if there were a lot of concerns and people were not happy with his performance, he would just resign," Chabot said.
After about an hour of closed debate, Gualdoni re-entered the council and presented his letter of resignation.
"It was mainly that I wanted to stay on top of my grades," Gualdoni said. "Since I have four jobs and fraternity responsibilities, I was unable to attend some of our events.
"I thought it was best for the council, because I was not able to represent them as best I could."
Chabot said under normal conditions, the council would have elected a new chair, but because it was close to the end of the semester, she was appointed acting chair.
The council is in place until the semester ends, but it has one sponsored event left, a battle of the bands on April 16.
"It was so close to the end of the year, we wondered if we really needed to do anything about this," Chabot said. "We decided he should be aware of our concerns and do something to make him think about taking a leadership position in the future."
Freshman Class Council Adviser Andrew Schepers said the council had approached Gualdoni several times about his performance.
"Whether this is the beginning or the end of the year, they felt strong enough that something should be done, and they did," he said.
Marilyn Ortiz, Freshman Class Council historian, said Gualdoni first was approached about his behavior before winter break.
"There have been tensions building up for a while," she said.
