Although for most members of the Boston University community the early weeks of the semester signal a time of organization and careful planning, the Student Union is undergoing some significant reshuffling at an especially inopportune time. Former Union Vice President Amy Mahler has resigned from her original post after a ‘performance review’ by Union President James Sappenfield deemed her unfit for the position. Mahler accepted the PR position the Union offered her in place of VP, but not without her doubts; she referred to the demotion in a private message to the Student Union Advisory Council as a ‘bribe’ and a move to ‘muzzle’ her.
The situation creates an aura of bad business around the Student Union. While Mahler speculates that the main reason she was removed from the VP position is due to her absence this summer, when she was working a clothing company internship in Brooklyn, and her inability to place BU’s Student Union as her top priority, she still holds that she worked hard enough to maintain her VP position. Mahler’s lack of devotion notwithstanding, this kind of conflict comprises the worst kind of beginning for any type of governing body ‘- if the Union can’t even keep itself in order, how can it organize a viable itinerary for the rest of the semester? Instead of focusing on the students, the Union board seems to be more concerned with internal issues.
Even though Mahler assures students she harbors no negativity toward the rest of the Union, she does mention her frustration and feelings that she is still an adequate candidate for the VP job. She even said she thinks the students themselves will be unhappy with the change. If students do respond negatively ‘- considering that Mahler actually garnered more votes for VP than Sappenfield did for President, according to an April 24 Daily Free Press article ‘- Sappenfield’s measure may isolate the very students his Union should be trying to connect with. On top of this complication comes the lack of replacement for Mahler- although Union members have someone in mind, their uncertainty adds to the stigma of poor planning. Without a strong infrastructure and without levelheaded leadership, the Union is breaking its foremost promise to the BU student body: the maintenance of unity.
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I don’t think the students of BU will lose much sleep over the arguments between a bunch of middle class white kids looking to add a few more bullet points to their resumes (the Student Union).