Citing personal reasons, political science senior Meghan Iverson resigned from her position as the executive administrative assistant for the Student Government Association.
She says the resignation was a “personal decision,” and that she has also ceased affiliation with all other on-campus organizations in which she was involved.
SGA president Elliot Sanchez, philosophy senior, also confirmed this reason for Iverson’s resignation.
“She came to me. She asked to resign for personal reasons,” he said.
The resignation follows an incident involving Iverson at the Nov. 3 Wolves on the Prowl, according to SGA senators Lee Ann Moss, international business sophomore, and Nicole Kone, English writing senior. The senators were leaders at the Frederick A. Douglass High School project site where tension surrounding Iverson mounted.
Kone said at the beginning of the event, Iverson was “making faces” and “complaining” within her earshot. She sensed Iverson thought the event not to be a genuine service effort.
“The sentiment of what she was saying was that we do (Wolves on the Prowl) to make ourselves feel better and that we don’t know what real community service is,” Kone said.
The situation escalated when Loyola students and an alumna heard some of Iverson’s comments while at Fredrick A. Douglass.
Kone said that students approached her, saying that Iverson said “all sorts of disparaging comments” and that these comments were “disrupting their experience.”
Kone said about 20 minutes later, the alumna approached her and said that Iverson referred to Fredrick A. Douglass students as “little piggies” and “those people.” But Kone asserts that these comments were based on the alumna’s account.
“I did not hear (the comments) firsthand,” she said.
The alumna couldn’t be reached for comment at press time.
“It’s distressing to me as a student and SGA member that she made those comments,” Moss said.
Kone echoes the sentiment.
“If she had been a regular student, I would have said, ‘Look, I understand,'” she said. “But (Iverson) is representing the organization we work very hard for.
“Don’t bring down the image of the organization that sponsored (Wolves on the Prowl).”
While the project leaders saw her behavior to be inappropriate, they cannot confirm if it had any weight on her subsequent resignation.
“She resigned for personal reasons; that’s all we know,” Moss said. “That’s what she communicated to Elliot (Sanchez).”
Iverson still holds that her decision to resign was personal and not stemming from external pressure.
“It’s a personal choice,” she said. “Some people have, like, you know, lasagna for lunch. I choose to resign from things. I’ve resigned from everything I’m involved in right now.”
Despite the possible circumstances surrounding Iverson’s resignation, both senators can vouch for Iverson’s competent performance while in office.
“I admire and appreciate what she did with SGA while she was with us,” Kone said.
Moss said Iverson would be justified in resigning for personal reasons.
“She was efficient and determined to get things done,” she said. “The persistence with which she worked would exhaust anyone.”
The job as SGA executive administrative assistant entails keeping minutes at senate meetings, preparing reports and maintaining all SGA records, among other duties, as described in the SGA bylaws. Iverson’s resignation seems to not have impeded normal SGA business, according to SGA members.
“Other members of the review staff are taking on her responsibilities,” said Casey Trahan, senior senator-at-large and political science senior. “(The vacancy is) saving us money – it helps us, actually.”
Sanchez estimates that six other SGA members have also resigned over the course of the semester.
Lauren LaBorde can be reached at [email protected].
