Engineering Undergraduate Society (EUS) President Zachary Moreland announced his resignation on Oct. 7. EUS Vice-President Internal Eric Kueper is currently serving as interim president until a Special Selection Committee appoints the next president on Nov. 4.
Moreland has held the position since May of 2013. In a letter to members of the EUS, Moreland cited personal reasons for his resignation, and he asked people to refrain from asking questions.
“My reasons for making this decision are plentiful and personal,” Moreland said. “I will say, however, that the end result of these various influences is that I am no longer confident in my ability to perform at the level that I myself would expect of a president.”
Although the resignation takes effect immediately, Moreland said he would aid in the transition process for the new president. The next president will be chosen by a Special Selection Committee, which is composed of the seven remaining EUS executives, as well as one representative from each of engineering’s seven departmental associations.
Applications are open to all members of the EUS. The deadline to apply for the position is Oct. 21, and the Special Selection Committee will meet on Oct. 22 to interview candidates and determine the new president. The selected president will be ratified by EUS Council on Nov. 4.
According to EUS Vice-President External Bryan Gingras, this process for the appointment of a new president is mandated by the constitution, which was first passed in 1974. He said it is therefore difficult to know exactly why the constitution mandates a selection committee to choose Moreland’s successor, rather than electing the new president in a by-election.
“Forming a Selection Committee is definitely the most logical choice from a logistical standpoint, and will result in the smallest possible disruption to the EUS’s many day-to-day activities,” he said.
According to EUS Vice-President Communications Luis Pombo, Moreland’s resignation came as a surprise.
“It goes without saying that the first reaction to the news from executives, councillors, and the student body in general, was that of surprise,” Pombo said. “Zac had done a strong job as president and was very passionate about implementing his ideas, so nobody saw it coming.”
Pombo said the resignation would not affect members of the EUS in the upcoming weeks.
“Realistically, the lack of a president does not have an observable impact on members of the EUS in the short run,” he said. “We have a strong executive team and an even stronger volunteer base that can put in the extra hours to remediate the absence of a president for the three weeks that we will be without one.”
Kueper said that although the resignation was unfortunate, he looks forward to the year.
“During his time as president of the EUS, [Moreland] brought our executive together and certainly started EUS council off on the right foot,” Kueper said. “I look forward to welcoming the successor of Zachary Moreland […] and until that time I am enthused to serve as interim president of the EUS.”
