SAMRU exec says goodbye
Nathan Ross
Arts Editor
This January, the Students’ Association of Mount Royal University had an elected official step down for the second consecutive year.
Last year, this prefaced an incident that made international headlines. This year, Julia Broome resigned from her executive position as vice-president of external affairs due to scheduling conflicts.
This time around, it was the student part of SA that got in the way of Broome’s responsibilities. After being threatened with failing a class due to participation, she made the decision to step down.
“I came to a crossroads where MRU presented me with an ultimatum and said if I went on a work trip to miss one class, they would fail me,” Broome said. “So, I had to quit my job. It was messed up. Not surprised though, this kind of thing happens all the time.”
Julia Broome (left) resigned from her position as VP external affairs because she risked failing a class due to scheduling conflicts. Photo: Bryan Weismiller
Broome was involved in a work term preparation class, which was a non-credit course she was taking for resume experience. Broome already missed two classes because of her responsibilities with SAMRU, as she was involved in meetings with Mayor Naheed Nenshi and SAMRU president Kaylene McTavish.
She was presented with the final option of keeping her role or stepping down due to her class.
“Participation was 45 per cent of the grade. I wasn’t missing a test or an assignment. They threatened to fail me on participation,” Broome said.
Since there was no time to have an election and teach a new person the ropes of being VP of external affairs, Michelle Dennis has stepped back into that role, which she held last year. She took on the position with an interim title until a new candidate is chosen at the SAMRU elections, which will begin on Feb. 24. Dennis declined to comment on Broome’s resignation.
