Student Union President Ricky Rosen '14 sent an email to the student body yesterday to announce Treasurer Sunny Aidasani's '14 formal resignation. According to the email, Aidasani resigned due to "personal health problems" that would interfere with his duties as treasurer.

The resignation came just a week after Executive Board members called for an emergency Senate meeting to consider impeaching Aidasani. Executive officers cited a general lack of communication over the summer as the reason for impeachment. However, the impeachment process was halted following a meeting between Aidasani and Rosen, and Aidasani was given a deadline of last Tuesday to complete a list of tasks for the treasury, according to a Sept. 3 Justice article.

In his statement of resignation, forwarded to the student body by Rosen, Aidasani wrote that he felt these personal health issues were "inhibiting [him] from performing [his] duties to the best of [his] abilities, along with conflicting with [his] personal commitments." He added that he "may need to take time off this year" and wrote "it would only be fair if I resign now so that there is no disorder within Treasury if that happens later," he wrote.

"The Student Union and the Executive Board is confident that this decision is what is best for the Brandeis student body, and for Sunny himself," Rosen wrote. "The Student Union is grateful to Sunny for making this difficult decision with the interests of students in mind."

The controversy began over the summer, when, according to Rosen, Student Union, club leaders and students in general had difficulty getting in touch with Aidasani . "Having not heard from him in months his status was very much in the air when the school year began," said Rosen in an interview with the Justice. "Since we had not heard from him in so long we decided that the best course of action for the student body would be to approach the Senate about removing him from office."

According to Rosen, the same day that he and other Executive Board members had decided to schedule a meeting to discuss Aidasani's status as treasurer, Rosen finally heard from Aidasani. "After speaking with him, I decided that it was in the best interest of students to give Sunny an opportunity to perform all of the duties that he had promised to when he was sworn in as the treasurer over the next few days," Rosen said. "This is because the student body elected sunny to be their treasurer, and I have faith in our student body, and since Sunny was our fellow Student Union member, we decided to give him another opportunity."

Rosen said that although Aidasani was able to resolve many of the issues that the Finance Board and the treasury were facing, including questions regarding procurement cards, clubs' allocations and other duties within the Student Union such as buying supplies for the Union office, he "did not believe that Sunny could continue to maintain this level of commitment to this position for the duration of the year."

"I feel like as Sunny stated in his email, his personal circumstances were preventing him from being able to fully commit to being treasurer...and being treasurer of the Student Union is the most difficult position on campus," Rosen said. "I think that Sunny felt if his personal circumstances could not be resolved, he would not be able to carry out the position to the best of his ability."

Rosen said that the completion of these tasks prior to Tuesday was not the only factor in Aidasani's decision, but that his "wellbeing as a student and a human being" were also taken into account.

According to Rosen, Aidasani made the decision to resign despite the fact that he was able to complete most of his duties prior to this past Tuesday. "We certainly made Sunny aware of the fact that given his inactivity over the summer we would be considering asking him to resign if he failed to complete the duties over the few days, but in the end it was Sunny's decision to make the decision ... and I think he made the correct call and it was in the best interest of the student body," Rosen said.

In his statement, Aidasani wrote that in his absence, "[p]roper measures are being taken to make sure there is a smooth transition into a new treasury." According to Rosen, until a new treasurer can be elected, Mohamed Ali '14, the Finance Board chair, will serve as the interim treasurer.

An election for a new treasurer will be included in the general Senate elections, according to the email.

"The next week or two is no doubt going to be a challenge for the Student Union and the student body, but I am confident that interim treasurer [Mohamed] Ali will do a fine job with the support of the team of assistant treasurers that Sunny assembled until a new treasurer is elected next week," said Rosen.
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