Student Union Executive Council’s attempts to ram Pam Bookbinder into the vice president’s slot were stalled by the Treasury and Senate last week.
Noting that the announcement of former vice president Katie Leikhim’s resignation occurred recently, and that most students did not even know about the resignation at the time, Treasury Representatives Hannah Draper, Judson Clark, Liz Shane, Harsh Agarwal and Brian Nakash voiced concerns that the process was moving too fast. Combined with its recent look at Assembly Series funding and the Internal Audit Committee, the Treasury is proving to be one of the strongest watchdogs of SU. The Senate echoed these concerns, with Senator Aaron Keyak rightfully noting that the legislature shouldn’t move forward with replacement talks until Exec Council could produce Leikhim’s written resignation.
But the burning question remains unanswered. Why did Leikhim resign now? It makes no sense to coerce her out so late in the semester, since she’ll be back in January; the Exec Council would only gain a week or so of being at full strength. To be fair, Liekhim did say that she wouldn’t be able to do the whole job next semester. She asked to split the role with somebody else-maybe a co-VP-but for unknown reasons, Exec Council turned her down. It seems Exec Council wanted a change in personnel, not a replacement for a vacancy.
That’s unfortunate, because Leikhim is now expressing reservations about returning to SU after how Exec Council handled her resignation. If nothing else, Exec Council’s mess will probably result in SU losing one of its most experienced, most accomplished, and hardest-working leaders. And some of Leikhim’s friends and supporters in SU are upset with Exec Council and rethinking their opinion of SU’s leadership. Turnover is already a big problem in SU, and Exec Council just made the problem worse.
We have no qualms with Exec Council’s recommendation of Pam Bookbinder for VP. We supported her bid for SU president last March, noting that she pledged to stand up to the administration on tough student issues, like file sharing. She has proved to be a diplomatic representative, forging the ties with administrators needed to get the job done. As VP, she would be able to leverage her skill and experience more effectively than as a senator.
However, one of the reasons we were enthusiastic about Leikhim last March was that she was in some ways an SU outsider, and would bring new ideas to what’s often an “insiders only” organization. Hopefully, currently uninvolved students will seize on the opportunity to make a difference in SU by running for the VP spot. Additionally, there are many SU officials qualified to take the job, and they should apply for it, too. The Senate and Treasury should insist on a competitive selection process, not just rubber-stamp Exec Council’s recommendation.
Nowhere is the need for competitive elections as great as for SU president. We hope that, come March, the new VP realizes that his or her exec position would make a strong platform from which to launch a presidential bid.