by Clare Duffy |
Update 2/1/16, 10 p.m.: A special election for a new ASUP President will be held in coordination with the vote on a change to the ASUP constitution on Feb. 16 and 17.
Applications for students wishing to run for ASUP President open tomorrow at noon and will be due Feb. 8 at noon to Election Chair Joseph Rojo.
Members of the ASUP Executive Board, now being led by Interim President Grace Holmes, are working with the Oversight Committee to ensure that all actions taken remain within ASUP constitutional bounds.
Holmes, who said she was surprised by Osman's resignation, does not plan to run for president.
"I don’t think it would be for the best interest of the student body," Holmes said. "I’m not sure that Khalid’s platform of change would really be realized if I ran, so I’m just trying to work together with the team that I’m a part of to make sure that the change I started in office with Khalid is implemented."
Original story posted 2/1/16, 7:30 p.m.: Khalid Osman resigned from the position of ASUP President Monday night.
Osman announced his resignation to the ASUP Executive Board Sunday and notified University administration, deans, faculty and ASUP Senate Monday afternoon.
“It really came down to not being able to establish teamwork…and I take full responsibility for that,” Osman said. “I should have worked harder to get the team on the same page in order for us to move forward with being the best Executive Board that we could have been for the student body. I feel like I wasn’t able to accomplish that, and don’t know if I would have been able to accomplish that in the time left, and for that reason I just decided to kind of step down.”
Although there had been obvious tension among Executive Board members at ASUP meetings prior, the announcement seemed to take ASUP by surprise. Several senators told The Beacon they didn’t see this coming.
Grace Holmes, formerly ASUP Vice President, will immediately take over the role of Interim President. Joseph Rojo, formerly ASUP Secretary, will become Vice President in the interim.
A special election is required to appoint a new president. A date has not been set.
It is necessary to have a secretary to hold a special election, so volunteers to fill this position were asked for at Monday’s ASUP senate meeting.
“I think there are a few unknowns at this point,” Jeromy Koffler, Director of Student Activities, said. “There’s a lot of things that need to be sorted out so the remaining Executive Board members are going to meet with the oversight committee to set a course of action.”
The vote on the change to the ASUP Constitution was one of Osman’s main goals for his presidency. After the vote passed in senate last week, Osman felt that he had accomplished this goal.
Osman is now looking forward to realigning his personal priorities and enjoying his last few months on The Bluff, while continuing to be a student leader without the title of President.
He is currently working on the Presidential Advisory Committee on Inclusion and will remain Chair of the ASUP Senior Gift Committee.
“This was really just something I needed to do for myself,” Osman said. “I’m really, really, really grateful to have had this position…And for me it was much more than just the title, it was having the opportunity to work with students, to work with administration, to create a bridge. I really, really care about the University and about the students.”
Clare Duffy is the news editor for The Beacon. She can be reached at duffy17@up.edu or on Twitter @claresduff. Rachel Rippetoe also contributed to this report.
