Chief of staff wanted stronger stance on student interests
By MEGHANNE DOWNES Associate News Editor
Chief of staff Pat Hallahan said he will resign when student body president Libby Bishop returns this weekend from the Board of Trustees meeting in Naples, Fla. because the two differ on policy issues, specifically hall dances.
"I am resigning as chief of staff because of differences with Libby particularly on the dance issue and that came to a head at the Senate meeting on Monday," said Hallahan, who is running for student body president with sophomore class president Jeremy Lao.
Hallahan said the comments he made during Monday's Senate meeting concerned Bishop and they discussed what options to take. Hallahan told Bishop he could still perform the duties of chief of staff but he could not sit there and not voice his opinion with regard to the report.
The possibility of the chief of staff resigning arose after Hallahan, speaking at a Senate meeting Monday concerning Bishop's report to the Board of Trustees, told the group that the Office of Student Affairs would not consider bringing back in-hall dances for at least two years. Upset by the comments, Bishop approached Hallahan after the meeting and the two discussed his resignation before Bishop said she wanted to think the decision over because she did not think it was necessary.
"I said that I would resign. It was getting harder to work for her when she would not inform me of issues. It was difficult to get in touch with her and she never got back to me before she left, Wednesday, [to discuss his possible resignation]" said Hallahan.
Hallahan said he made his decision when Bishop did not contact him before she left for Florida. He chose to resign now because he thought Bishop was indecisive and he did not think it was productive for student government to prolong the decision.
Bishop said she was sorry to see Hallahan leave and that it was the best decision for both Hallahan and the office. She attributed Hallahan's resignation to the stress created from being chief of staff and campaigning for student body president.
Hallahan said his life was busy, but stress was not the reason he decided to resign.
"It really was a situation where we couldn't work together on this issue and I still have time to work with other senators and [Hall President's Council] stuff. If we didn't disagree I wouldn't be resigning," he said.
Trip Foley, student body vice president, said, "I am sorry to see him go and I think Pat has done a outstanding job and he has been a real leader in the office."
As chief of staff, Hallahan ran the day-to-day operations of the office and was the top policy advisor to Bishop.
Erin LaRuffa, public relations officer for the Office of the Student Body President, said Hallahan was justified in his decision. "I don't think it is a good working relationship if you cant voice an opinion without causing problems," said LaRuffa.
Bishop, Foley, Hallahan and LaRuffa met when they returned from winter break to discuss the Board of Trustees report and decided a proposal would be made to bring back in hall dances, said Hallahan.
Hallahan said Bishop did not ask him to help draft the report and it was frustrating to read the "watered down" report at Wednesday's Senate meeting.
Hallahan said he disagreed with Bishop's decision to take out the proposal and this was the opportunity to take a stronger stance with the Board of Trustees.
" We have a different leadership style," Hallahan said. "I am much more aggressive, whereas Libby is more compromising."
"Overall it was a weak report and its unfortunate because we were in a good position to put dances back in the hall," LaRuffa said.
LaRuffa said Bishop's fall report on residentiality impressed the Board of Trustees and now was the opportunity to make a proposal regarding in hall dances due to connections between the topics.
All News Stories for Friday, February 7, 2003
