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Cabinet members resign,
replaced
Members would not reveal reasons for leaving
cabinet |
David
Forbes
SGA Beat |
Two Student Government
Association cabinet members have resigned and been replaced in less
than a week.
Tasha K. King, director of public affairs, and
Andy T. Ball, director of state and national affairs, both resigned
last Monday.
Student Body President Ryan M. Eller appointed Luke
Dyer and Chad C. Oakley to fill the respective positions last Thursday.
The senate still has to approve the appointments.
“It’s been in the works for a while,
crunch time came last week, and some decisions had to be made, both
on mine and the cabinet’s part,” said Eller, who would not
comment on the specifics of the resignations. “They’re two
isolated incidents, neither cabinet member left on negative terms.”
“I feel like it’s a good thing, I get to move forward and
still work closely with everyone here,” said Ball, who was recently
appointed vice president of public affairs for the Association of
Student Governments. “I’ll still be very active in communicating
with SGA here and statewide.”
Ball had no comment on the reason for his resignation but said it
was voluntary.
Despite repeated attempts, King could not be reached for comment at
press time.
The resignations were not announced to the senate at last Tuesday’s
SGA meeting, though Ball and King were not seated with the rest of
the cabinet.
“The [resignations] were not because of any problem they had
with us on any type of personal or political level at all,” said
Eller. “These folks are cabinet members of Ezell and I, bottom
line, they’re there to do the work we need them to do.”
The resignations came as a surprise to Oakley, the new director of
state and national affairs.
“Just my experience with SGA last year, there were never any
rumors going around about somebody leaving, everybody was set,”
said Oakley. “I don’t even remember reading about [a resignation]
in the paper my first two or three years here.”
Oakley, a senior political science major, served as a senator last
year.
“I went to state and national affairs committee meetings a lot
last year and developed a relationship with Ryan; I also worked on
his campaign,” said Oakley. “The [platform] goals are something
I’m familiar with.”
Dyer, a junior criminal justice major, has not been in SGA previously,
but said his experience as a resident assistant and public relations
work at the Committee for Integrity at Appalachian (CIA) has prepared
him for the position.
“The other cabinet members have helped me out a lot,” said
Dyer. “I still have a lot to learn, but I’m trying to learn
it as fast as I can.”
Both Oakley and Dyer applied for cabinet positions last year and were
elected as off-campus senators this year. They vacated their seats
when appointed to cabinet.
“We’re going to be working over the next few weeks to build
a level of trust with the [new members] and the rest of the cabinet,”
said Eller. “ This has been a horrible thing for us to deal with.
But in the end I think the students are going to get the most for
what they’re paying for.” |
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