Correction appended.
Chandler Jent, the vice commissioner of operations for the Senate Appropriations Commission within Student Senate, formally resigned from his position Friday, effective immediately.
Jent’s resignation is the latest following Wednesday’s Senate body meeting in which former Chief Justice Hannah Fleming resigned alongside three additional judicial panel members.
On Feb. 16, Senate Treasurer Simar Kalkat was removed from her position in a vote of no confidence. After her removal, questions were raised regarding the process of it. Those concerns were extensively discussed in a Student Senate Speakout that took place on Wednesday. Kalkat has since been reinstated as treasurer of Senate.
“Senate was working really well, and then this vote happened and it seemed like everyone turned against each other, essentially,” Jent said.
In his resignation letter, Jent cited the current atmosphere within Senate and the “failure of several of its members to interact with civility” as reasons for his resignation. Jent spoke to the positive experiences he had within Senate, such as working with Senate Vice President Elaina Tartal, but added that his personal well-being was his main priority.
“My membership in this organization has caused severe detriment to my well-being,” Jent wrote in the letter.
Individuals at the speakout also criticized Fleming’s actions in reading an anonymous letter she received regarding Kalkat’s university purchasing card prior to the vote of no confidence. The letter alleged Kalkat had misused her purchasing card, a rumor which was disproven shortly after her removal. Fleming formally resigned during the speakout.
Fleming cited Senate’s environment, harassment and safety concerns, her personal well-being and the “failure” of some Senate members to abide by its Rules and Procedures as reasons that contributed to her resignation.
“I cannot sit by and interpret rules and policies for a body which refuses and fails to apply and uphold them,” Fleming wrote in her resignation.
Fleming said she and several other members of the judicial panel had been considering resigning for a couple months prior to Wednesday’s meeting.
“I got threats to myself,” Fleming said. “It was bad enough that nobody wanted to be a part of it anymore.”
Fleming’s resignation was also effective immediately and she proceeded to leave the Senate meeting after reading her statement. The resignation letter also served as Julianna Rittenberg, Julia Platt and Cheyenne Knavel’s respective resignations from their positions as associate justices.
Correction: A previous headline of this article stated that Jent was the second member of Student Senate to resign within the week, when he was the fifth. This article has been updated to reflect the most accurate information.
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