In the face of the resignations of officers Dorian Ehrlich ’14 and Justine Keller ’13, the Student Government Association is in the unusual position of being forced to reshuffle a number of offices mid-semester.
Ehrlich, formerly Chief of Communications, resigned because of personal aversion to some duties of his office as well as disagreements with the direction of SGA activities this semester, while Keller, who served as Chair of Residential Affairs, left SGA for undisclosed personal reasons.
Edward Fisher ’12, Vice President of SGA, said that the almost simultaneous resignations of Ehrlich and Keller was “a complete and unhappy coincidence,” dissuading any outside observer from thinking that there is any kind of mass exodus from SGA this semester. Instead, according to Fisher, there is “no relation between the two” resignations.
Ehrlich has been replaced at Communications by Ali Rossi ’13, while Will Tucker ’14 has replaced Keller at Residential Affairs.
While he expressed regret at the resignations of two key officers, Fisher noted that the Executive Board is “really happy to have Will and Ali.” Fisher said that the changes at SGA this semester constitute “the first time, to my knowledge, we’ve had this much turnover.”
Ehrlich’s criticisms upon resigning last week of SGA’s labyrinthine bureaucratic qualities and lack of transparency have been echoed by grumblings across the campus community. Candace Taylor ’13, for example, forcefully criticized SGA’s lack of visibility in an opinion piece in last week’s edition of The College Voice, and one student who has served on the SGA Public Relations Committee, speaking on the condition of anonymity, noted that there were numerous efforts this semester to increase the visibility of President Diane Essis ’12. 
According to the PR Committee member, Essis, uncomfortable with most of the ideas to increase her public image, stymied the attempts before they could be implemented.
Indeed, it has fallen to Fisher, the Vice President, to lead SGA’s public response to the resignations and numerous criticisms leveled at SGA this semester, sitting down with The Voice for numerous interviews and sending out public emails about the resignations of Ehrlich and Keller, while Essis has remained mostly silent.
Fisher said that he believes that the criticisms of SGA this semester are not new and are typical of conversations had every semester at Conn. Concerns about transparency are “perennial. We’re always working on issues about how best to do [public relations].”
As for charges of bureaucracy and lack of initiative, Fisher replied, “I don’t see it in that light at all. I would say these are mostly good faith discussions we have at SGA.”
He also noted that Ehrlich’s criticisms are of an “interpersonal” quality, and that with the amount of time that SGA officers spend together, there are “bound to be tensions.” Ehrlich’s characterization of SGA was “one-sided,” Fisher argued. SGA is genuinely looking to foster “a more general dialogue” with the rest of the campus community, according to Fisher.
Rossi, the new Chief of Communications, echoed Fisher’s sentiments. She is looking to “increase the transparency of SGA to students” and to try and show students how SGA can be “a really good tool for them to use.”
She will be using SGA’s Twitter account to give students more knowledge of what goes on at meetings, and will continue writing a weekly piece for the news section of The College Voice, started by Ehrlich, about SGA’s operations. “I’ll work with The Voice to get what SGA does out to the student body,” Rossi said.
Rossi will also take on the duty of writing On the Can, one of the loudest mouthpieces SGA uses to spread news across campus. “I don’t want to give too much away,” Rossi said about her plans for On the Can, but she did reveal that she will be profiling members of the SGA Executive Board and Assembly in each installment in order to increase their visibility. She will seek to give a better picture of “SGA business in general” with On the Can, she said.
Tucker, the new Chair of Residential Affairs, also spoke positively about SGA’s future and ability to effect change. He hopes to “reinvigorate life in the houses and the house environment as a whole. I really believe that the residential experience can contribute greatly to a person’s happiness here so it’s important to foster an environment where everybody feels comfortable and involved.”
Future initiatives Tucker discussed include a possible spring semester version of Camelympics as well as greater collaboration between SGA and the Office of Residential Education and Living.
He also is unfazed by the prospect of ascending to his SGA position near the midyear point, having taken up a seat on the Assembly as a senator from Plant last semester. Tucker is “quite excited by the opportunity” to serve as Chair of Residential Affairs, having run unsuccessfully for the position last semester.
Tucker noted “low voter turnout” in recent elections and mentioned that increasing overall student participation in and knowledge of student government as larger initiatives that SGA has to tackle in the future.
The Executive Board is optimistic about the prospect of tackling such projects with the team they currently have. Speaking about the reshuffling at SGA this semester, Fisher said, “We get to reevaluate and shake up our own approach. And that’s the silver lining in this whole unfortunate situation.” •
