Executive’s top two advisers resign

Two of the Student Association executive branch’s highest non-elected officials announced their resignations Tuesday night.

Senior Ellen Wexler, the executive chief of staff, and junior Will Donovan, the executive chief administrative officer, both left SA President Audai Shakour’s cabinet over what Shakour termed a difference in the vision of the SA.

Wexler and Donovan both declined to say why they resigned.

“It’s saddening,” Shakour said before Tuesday night’s Senate meeting in the Marvin Center. “Will and Ellen controlled the tempo of my cabinet.”

“This is a huge loss. We’ve been in this together from the beginning, all the way up until today,” Shakour added.

On Wednesday afternoon Dan Getman, a senior and adviser to Shakour also resigned. Getman did not give a reason for his resignation but he is the third person from Shakour’s cabinet to resign in a two-day period.

Wexler and Donovan had been with Shakour since last spring, when Shakour decided he would run for SA president. Wexler was Shakour’s campaign manager, and Donovan helped Shakour build the Colonial Trader Web site, a campaign pillar Shakour hopes to launch this month.

“There is nothing more important in life than treating others with respect,” Wexler said. “Leaders must remember they are equals to those that serve for them.”

Donovan said his resignation is “more than a difference in ideology.”

The resignation did not come as a surprise to some senators.

“It’s a shame that Will and Ellen were put in the position where they had to leave the executive,” sophomore Chris Rotella (CCAS-U) said.

Shakour will replace Wexler with deputy chief of staff Gina Fernandes, a sophomore. He said Vice President of undergraduate affairs John Och, a junior, will play an increased role in the cabinet.

-Brandon Butler