ASMSU's final female chairwoman, Julielyn Gibbons, has resigned under mysterious circumstances, saying she did not agree with various situations, but refused to elaborate.
The loss of Gibbons will affect ASMSU's Student Assembly. Her passion for the undergraduate student government was a driving force in spreading ASMSU's message.
Her resignation comes on the heels of three other Student Assembly resignations, all within the last year. Distressingly, all those who resigned are female.
In order for ASMSU, a group organized to represent the student population in university matters, to properly reflect the student body, there must be diversity on the board. Having the board consist only of males ignores a full 55 percent of the students on campus.
The fact that Student Assembly Chairman Roger Ludy said he didn't think the lack of female chairwomen was a problem is troubling. Any time a representative body of any kind loses every single person of one particular sex or race, efforts should be made to ascertain the reason for the departures. It should not be met with an out-of-hand dismissal and then summarily ignored.
Having this many people resign within a year should send up red flags, but to have them all be of the same sex can hardly be a coincidence.
That suspicion is given more credence, considering Felicia Anderson, former representative of the Council for Students with Disabilities, referred to the current ASMSU board as a "good-old-boys' association." It has not been proven yet, but if that is the case, it would be inexcusable.
The one recurring complaint that these resignations have brought up is that ASMSU is not keeping its constituents and the student body aware of its activities.
Both Gibbons and Em Ketterer, former director of racial, ethnic and progressive student affairs, took issue with the lack of clarity in the board's actions. Ketterer, in fact, pointed to a specific instance in which former Association Director Jessica Kunnath's appointment to her position was turned down, following a closed meeting. Both Kunnath and Ketterer claimed it was the first time ASMSU held a closed meeting for hiring purposes.
The fact that this hiring meeting was closed, and others have not been, is suspicious.
Any group of elected officials, from ASMSU to the MSU Board of Trustees, should keep their constituents well informed. Any decisions made should adhere to the utmost level of transparency, no matter what those decisions may be.
