At an emergency in-camera Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union board of directors meeting that took place just prior to Reading Week, director Peter Hanna resigned from his role following the decision of the board to allow chair Saad Aslam to remain in his current position.
“I was hired as vice-president university affairs [and] the board had to decide if they wanted to keep me around in my capacity as a director and they did choose to do so,” said Aslam.
“I will fulfill my responsibilities as a director and chair of the board and also work on transitioning to vice-president of university affairs next year.”
Although details of the Feb. 10 in-camera meeting cannot be discussed, Hanna said that he resigned because of the outcome.
“A lot of board members did not agree with [the outcome]…. It was really close and with that outcome I think we’re putting the corporation at risk,” said Hanna.
Hanna noted that because he is currently on co-op, he hasn’t been able to attend any meetings this semester and is not comfortable remaining on the board for the rest of his term.
“With me not being there and this in place, if anything happens I don’t want to really have myself backing it,” he said.
Though he had no intentions of resigning from his director position prior to the in-camera meeting, Hanna did note that he had thought about it previously, as he has had many frustrations with both the chair and the board has a whole over the past year.
“I’ve really disagreed with a lot of things and I’ve tried to voice my opinion, but you’re only one member. A couple of directors have now quit and a lot of it was just the unwillingness of the board to see eye-to-eye and negotiate with each other,” said Hanna.
“I think that’s the major flaw of the board and the reason why we’re not as productive as we should be. Instead of trying to work together we just argue and [individuals] try to … pass their own agenda.”
With both Hanna and Justin Glover having resigned this semester, the board now only has 13 directors.
Though it is reduced from its standard 15 members, Aslam doesn’t feel that this will have a significant impact on how the board operates.
“Justin [Glover] was missing a lot of meetings and Peter [Hanna], since January, hasn’t been here so I think people have got used to having 13 directors.
“We’ll definitely miss their insight and input but I don’t think it will affect team dynamics very much,” said Aslam.
Though Hanna said that he is frustrated about resigning, he feels that “it was what was needed.”
“It’s unfortunate because students in the end did vote me into the board…. [But] I don’t think that me being a director will make the student body any better than the current state it’s at.”
Hanna noted that while he encourages chair-elect Kyle Hocking to bring forward much-needed policy changes to the incoming board, he is less optimistic about what the current board will accomplish in the rest of their term.
“I really don’t believe that the board will get too much done productively in the near future,” said Hanna.
