Jamersin Redfern officially resigned from his position as Student Association vice president on Friday after delivering the news in person to staff members that afternoon.
Redfern finished his coursework for a psychology degree in the fall semester and is stepping down after graduating early because of “undisclosed family issues.”
SA President Leslie Veloz will appoint the next vice president in accordance with the SA constitution, which states if a vacancy opens in the SA e-board after Oct. 31, the presiding SA president will appoint the new vice president. That appointee must then be approved by the SA Senate.
Veloz, who has known about the possibility of Redfern’s resignation since the end of last semester, has yet to make a decision on a replacement.
She informed the student body about his resignation in a school-wide email on Saturday.
This is not the first time in recent years an e-board member has resigned from their position. Last year the elected vice president, Megan Glander, resigned during the spring semester to accept a full-time job position with Senator Chuck Schumer.
“It’s happened before,” said Jacob Brown, SA elections and credentials chair. “I’m sure it’ll happen again and the process just keeps working.”
If these mid-year turnovers become a trend, it could raise questions over whether the student body is being fairly represented when its elected officials are being replaced by an executive board appointed candidate –– particularly when the position’s primary duty is to support and oversee all the student clubs on campus through the SA.
It is not exactly fair for the students, but the most important thing is to continue the vision she and Redfern had for their tenure, Veloz said in an email.
She said an elected official should absolutely tell their constituents if they are planning on not finishing their whole term, though Redfern’s circumstances were out of his hands.
“I think it’s important to note that [Redfern] had every intention on finishing the whole year and would have, had he not had his personal reasons,” Veloz said.
The decision to resign was not an easy one for Redfern.
“It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do,” Redfern said. “I’ve been involved with SA since I came to UB. I’m just happy I got accepted by the UB community so quickly after being a transfer student.”
He said he recommended a few club leaders and coordinators as his replacement, but Veloz has the final say on the matter.
His co-workers said they will miss his presence in the SA office and his work as vice president.
“I think [Redfern] was a good vice president,” Brown said. “He was a good boss. He cared about the people working for him, and he cared about his clubs. I’m sad to see him go, but I hope he goes on to bigger and better things.”
SA is currently collecting petitions for next year’s SA Executive Board elections, which are due on March 1.
The elections for the new SA president, vice president and treasurer are scheduled to be held on March 27-29.
Haruka Kosugi is an assistant news editor and can be reached at haruka.kosugi@ubspectrum.com and @KosugiSpec on Twitter
