Sen. Ryan Lassi resigned Tuesday, making him the fifth senator to do so this year.
Lassi, an academic senator representing business students, cited time commitment as one of his reasons for leaving the senate seat, a recurring theme with many of the recently resigned senators.
“My head is pointed down in shame right now as I had no intentions of anything like this occurring,” Lassi said in his letter of resignation addressed to the Senate.
“There are some priorities that have come up that I have not been able to take care of due to being swamped working two other jobs, going to school and taking care of some personal things that can’t be missed,” he said.
ASUO Vice President Getachew Kassa characterized his reaction to Lassi’s resignation as, “Not another one.”
“My initial reaction was nothing but, ‘unfortunate,’” he said.
Because of the similarities in the reasons for resignation, Kassa, who heads the Hiring Committee, said he hopes to prevent the problem of losing senators by tweaking the hiring process.
“I plan to continue to do my job and find students who are qualified and who have the time,” he said, stressing the importance of making sure candidates have room in their lives for the various obligations, including the learning curve that goes along with the job.
Another change to the hiring process Kassa hopes to implement is to encourage candidates to speak with current senators with similar jobs.
Senate President Nick Gower highlights a part in Lassi’s letter of resignation that addresses the comfort level that senators feel in discussing issues. Lassi said in his letter, “I thought that Senate would be for me, but realized I am way too many steps behind everyone and often get uncomfortable because of it.”
Gower plans to address the entire senate body to find out whether the issue applies to more than just Lassi.
Of the six seats that have been vacated since last year (one due to Emma Kallaway’s appointment to ASUO President), two have been filled: Senate Seat 5 by Carina Miller and Senate Seat 8 by Hailey Sheldon. Kassa looks to appoint senators to seats 14 and 17 this week and seats 1 and 13 by next week. His priority is filling seats 14 and 17, as they are required to be filled by Oct. 29.
“I prefer senators who are elected by their peers, not by executive,” Kassa said. But senators who do not have enough time in their schedules provide a disservice to students, he said.
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