Three De Anza Student Government senators resigned from the senate at its meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 25 in the Student Council Chambers.
Chair of Events Joey Hua, 19, aerospace major and both flea market liaisons, Benjamin Vahidi, 18, biology major and Lakshya Saini, 19, computer science major, stepped down from their positions.
“Growing commitments in my professional endeavors … require a greater share of my time and focus,” Saini wrote in his resignation letter, which Chair of Administration James Nguyen, 19, electrical engineering major, read on his behalf.
Hua wrote that he resigned over personal complications.
“I have learned a lot from being a part of DASG senate,” Hua wrote. “I’m grateful for the memories and time we spent together.”
Vahidi did not leave a resignation letter for Nguyen to read and was absent from the meeting.
DASG also formally removed Elora Zhu, computer science major, from her post as student trustee at the meeting.
Despite her resignation and subsequent removal as student trustee, Zhu continues to run for reelection.
Zhu wrote in a statement that she resigned on Feb. 11 over “ongoing personal circumstances and my current situation.”
Budget Analyst Jacob Kao, 26, data science major, volunteered himself to fill Zhu’s gap on the board, but Nguyen and DASG President Jayven Huang, 19, computer science major, already planned for an internal appointment on the senate’s agenda.
Originally, the senate planned to approve Election Commissioner Francesca Cacchione, 21, computer engineering and mechanical engineering major, to serve as an interim student trustee, but district policy prevents it from filling the position without the board’s consent.
“I found out from the chancellor’s office that the board of trustees has to approve (DASG filling) the vacancy (Zhu left behind),” faculty advisor Hyun-Chu Yi Baker said.
Yi Baker also said the board will decide the upcoming trustee’s appointment at its March 9 meeting, the meeting Cacchione would have filled in for.
Because of this, there will not be a student trustee representing the student body at De Anza at the board’s upcoming March 9 meeting.
“If you all would like to go and sit in the audience as a member of the public, those (district board) meetings are open just like ours,” Yi Baker said.
Additionally, DASG executive officer elections will wrap up on March 4 by 6 p.m., with the administration committee holding its election certification and complaint meeting on March 6.
Cacchione told La Voz she didn’t “have anything to disclose” about the position.
Events Coordinator Ryan Yi will succeed Hua, with the senate appointing him as Chair of Events during its March 4 meeting at 4 p.m.
The senate will appoint Yi and the two flea market liaisons’ replacement in an internal election next week.
Huang said Saini and Vahidi’s replacements will be chosen through midterm elections.
In an internal election, including midterm elections, the senate interviews interested candidates and votes to appoint the best candidate.
While applications for internal elections to next year’s senate will be open to the public, the senate will only consider committee interns for midterm elections.
“It is a very difficult situation, and I understand your reasons for leaving,” Huang said. “I want to send you off with one round of applause for all the work that you put in.”
