Vice President resigns

“The main reason for leaving was self respect,” Dune Zhu said of his decision to step down as ASPSU vice president. “I could choose to do what’s comfortable or make the tough choice to leave.”

Zhu and multicultural affairs director Jason Lowery both announced their resignations Friday.

While the student government’s press release cited “irreconcilable personnel differences,” Zhu said he felt there was a “serious lack of respect from [Student Body President] Kristen Wallace.”

Lowery echoed Zhu’s complaint, saying, “Kristen did not listen to me when I gave input and made it impossible for me to do my job effectively.”

“I didn’t feel Kristen was completely honest with the executive staff,” Zhu said.

According to Zhu, at an executive meeting several weeks ago, Wallace addressed the staff in tears and apologized for mistakes she had made. The following day, Zhu claims Wallace admitted to him that her behavior was intended to motivate the staff, not because she felt she had done anything wrong.

Lowery said his problems with Wallace began last summer when he and Wallace had a falling out, after which he told Wallace he did not respect or trust her. In the following months, the tension between them built.

“I felt Kristen’s attitude was pushing me out because my opinions weren’t valued,” he said, adding that there was no overt action taken to push for his resignation.

Wallace says she valued Lowery’s opinions and perspectives because he was passionate about getting Black Studies offered as a major, but says, “Listening doesn’t mean obeying. You can listen and disagree with someone.”

According to Wallace, her conflict with Lowery centered around differences and incompatibilities when working on issues. She denied that there was any ongoing conflict with Lowery on an individual level and said they were always in line about what campaigns to work on and how to approach them.

Wallace acknowledged that the ASPSU office often has personnel conflict, but believes it is healthy.

“It’s inevitable that we’ll have conflict,” she said. “If there’s no conflict, something isn’t right.”

One issue for Lowery was that Wallace continually missed individual meetings between the two, stating that while the two were supposed to meet weekly, Wallace only made it to two or three during fall term.

“I haven’t been the greatest with one-on-one [meetings] this year,” Wallace admitted. “Missed meetings have happened.”

She explained, however, sometimes other issues took precedence and felt confident Zhu and Lowery’s close working relationship was sufficient to get things accomplished.

Lowery disagreed, “That was her job that she did not perform.”

Both Lowery and Zhu voiced concern Wallace often put her own agenda above what they felt was best for the ASPSU staff and the student body.

“Many times,” Zhu said, “Kristen [Wallace] would use her executive power even when it conflicted with the entire staff.”

According to Zhu, one example of that involved the delegation selection for the Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C. earlier this year. Zhu, Lowery and state affairs director Miriam Gonzalez were all planning on attending with two interns, a decision Zhu says was backed almost unanimously by the ASPSU staff. During this time, he says, Gonzalez and Wallace were having communication issues and conflict, which resulted in Wallace’s decision to pull Gonzalez from the trip at the last minute and with no explanation.

“I told her that I didn’t feel it would be a good delegation without Miriam [Gonzalez],” Zhu said. He thought about resigning at this time, since he had been considering it since the beginning of the term, but says he did not want “to play politics.”

While Wallace acknowledged that members of her staff have disagreed with her decisions at times, she is adamant it should not impact the ability to get business taken care of.

“A lot of people haven’t agreed with me all the time,” she said, “but we work together and come together on issues.”

With less than three months left in the current administration’s term, Zhu thinks it is unfortunate that it turned out this way, but says he and other staff members have approached Wallace several times about similar concerns with no result.

“Actions speak louder than words,” he said, “and in this case there was no action.”

Neither Lowery nor Zhu felt the conflict could be resolved in the remainder of the year. “Kristen [Wallace] doesn’t take criticism well,” Zhu said. “There will be conflict in every organization, but what is really happening when the majority of the conflict is directed at one person?”

Lowery looks forward to continuing his work on issues such as a Black Studies major, through other avenues.

“I enjoyed working with the organization [ASPSU] and I think the organization does excellent work,” he said. “I have a lot of respect for the people I work with and wish them all the best.”

Zhu agreed, saying, “I still have a lot of love for ASPSU; it’s been one of the greatest experiences I’ve had.”

Wallace does not feel the changes will inhibit student government’s ability to push forward on current campaigns.

“We’ll continue to do our work,” she said. “People in this office are very committed.”

ASPSU communications director Adam Zavala said that it is important to recognize the work Zhu and Lowery committed to ASPSU.

“The goals ASPSU have are bigger than personal issues. Jason and Dune gave 110 percent to this office until the moment they walked out the door,” he said.

Wallace agreed, adding, “Their names will be on [the Black Studies major] victory, too.”

ASPSU does not plan to fill Zhu’s position until after the election next month. According to Wallace, the vice president-elect will take over as vice-president immediately following the election to enable a smooth transition to the new administration.

The Evaluation and Constitutional Review committee meets today and is expected to determine whether Wallace can fill Lowery’s position by appointment or if an open-application process is required. If Wallace is allowed to appoint a replacement, she plans on hiring Aaleeya Spence, an intern who has worked under Lowery since fall term.