This is a developing story. It will be updated as more information becomes available.
On Wednesday morning, the Arts Undergraduate Society (AUS) released a statement announcing the resignation of Catherine Jeffery, the AUS Vice President External.
Jeffery, a U2 Political Science Student, was elected last February in the general AUS elections. They started attending SSMU Legislative Council as a representative of the AUS toward the end of the last academic year, prior to the start of their term. Jeffery replaced Igor Sadikov in this capacity following his resignation as Arts Representative to SSMU.
Jeffery cited “mental health, the workload of the AUS, and other academic and extracurricular opportunities” as their reasoning for leaving the Arts Undergraduate Society’s executive.
When asked for comment, AUS President Erik Partridge stated that “While the AUS Executive is saddened to see Catherine leave our team, we know that they will excel at whatever they decide to tackle next. The AUS Executive has already acted to divide up the work in the Vice-President External portfolio, and the External portfolio and the AUS as a whole [will] continue to operate as normal.”
Jeffery’s resignation is one of many in the past several months, both within the AUS and SSMU. Over the course of the Winter 2017 term, two members of the sitting AUS Executive and the incoming Vice President Internal resigned from their posts. Additionally, the SSMU President and Vice President External both stepped away from their roles following a string of scandals.
A replacement will be determined at AUS Legislative Council on Wednesday, September 13.
