After the sudden resignation of Boston University Student Union President Michael Moffo, student leaders, including new Union President Zachary Coseglia, said they hoped students wouldn’t draw parallels between Moffo’s resignation and Union resignations in previous years.
Coseglia, a College of Communication senior, said he hoped people would see the difference between last year’s resignations and Moffo’s own, which was forced by the administration.
“I think he’s very disappointed that he had to leave,” Coseglia said. “I think the word resignation is a ‘boo’ word — when you hear that word in the same sentence of the Union, you think of past years. If you really look at the situation, you can really see that it’s not the same.”
Laurie Steinberg, the VP of public relations, said Moffo was right not to protest his forced resignation.
“Protesting it would take away the attention from what our focus is,” said Steinberg, a COM senior.
“We all still have the same ideals for the Union, and he doesn’t want his personal case to take away from that,” Steinberg said. “It’s a very different resignation from those in the past.”
Last year, several Executive Board members resigned due to gripes with the structure of the Student Union. Mark Greenfield, a College of Arts and Sciences senior and former VP of residence life, resigned from the E-board last year, citing a lack of focus and an inability to get things done.
“The Union was liberal, but without any real direction. Our substance didn’t back up our rhetoric,” Greenfield said in an April interview. “We just didn’t see eye to eye with each other, and I don’t think the Union has the guts or organization to get things done.”
In addition to the E-board members, George Perry, a CAS senior and former Election Commission chair, resigned last year, saying he was disillusioned with the Union.
“They were falling into the same traps of the past,” Perry said in an interview with The Daily Free Press last April. “[They were] delving into politicking and constitutional issues and not student issues. It made it hard for me to maintain my interest. I couldn’t put in the same interest I have in years past.”
Kirsten Lundeen, Senate chairwoman and a CAS junior, said there were no connections between last year’s resignations and this year’s.
“The only parallel that would ever be drawn is that Mike is taking the opportunity to focus on academics,” Lundeen said. “Several others did last year, except this year, it’s being forced upon him.”
After announcing his resignation to the Union E-board Monday night, Moffo sent his resignation letter to Student Activities Office Director Carolyn Norris, Assistant Dean of Students Allen Ward and The Daily Free Press at approximately 9:30 Monday night.
The only other member of the E-board to leave his post this year was Vice President of Multicultural Affairs Etienne Lombard. Lombard stepped down at the Dec. 10 Senate meeting, due to his December 2001 graduation.
Both Moffo and Lombard were explicit about the reasons they were leaving. Neither left due to problems within the Union, but both were forced out by requirements set forth in the Student Union Constitution.
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