Student Union Director of Special Events Linda Li '13, Director of Community Advocacy J.V. Souffrant '13, and Junior Representative to the Board of Trustees Supreetha Gubbala '12 will be stepping down from their positions in the Student Union, according to an Oct. 5 Union press release. According to Union President Daniel Acheampong '11, elections will be held as soon as possible to fill Gubbala's position, while members of the Executive Board of the Student Union will work to continue Li's and Souffrant's projects.

The retirees said their respective decisions to step down from their positions were not coordinated and were not attributed to any sort of discord within the Student Union. All three former Union members said they had their own personal reasons for giving up their posts and believed it was best to move on at this time.

Li, who was elected as the director of special events at the beginning of this academic year, wrote in an e-mail interview with the Justice, "I stepped down because I have other priorities, and I knew I would be unable to give this particular new role my 110%." Li explained that her primary responsibility in that role was acting as a Union representative to Jump Start, a campus organization responsible for planning events on campus. Li previously served as Senator for Massell Quad during the 2009 to 2010 academic year.

Despite feeling obligated to step down, Li had only positive things to write about her time serving as Director of Special Events. "I love the Student Union," wrote Li, "and I want to acknowledge and emphasize that the Union is a resource for all students, and open to all students. ... I encourage students to take advantage of the Union and get involved."

Gubbala could not be reached for comment by press time. However, she wrote in a letter to Acheampong and Undergraduate Representative to the Board of Trustees Heddy Ben-Atar '11 that her decision to step down was based on a recent job offer she received from a domestic violence and sexual assault shelter. "I truly cannot see how I can pass up such a golden opportunity to actually experience the work I am passionate about," she wrote. Gubbala also served last fall as Director of Academic Affairs.

She further explained that she had to devote a minimum of 8 hours per week to the shelter and would therefore have to "sacrifice a few of my current extracurriculars, one of which is this [Union] position." She added, "I will be here to help [the Union] through the process of finding someone new." Gubbala will retire after serving as the junior representative to the Board of Trustees since last spring.

Souffrant's decision to step down from his position as Executive Board Director of Community Advocacy was due to his involvement with the Experiential Learning program, a program designed to help students develop skills and knowledge from direct experiences. "It was time for me to take my passion for helping others to a different aspect of campus," he said in a phone interview with the Justice.

Souffrant made Acheampong aware of his intentions to step down about a month ago, but the formal decision was not announced until last week. He cited as among his biggest achievements the legitimization of the senator for racial minority students position, a job that he said "nobody really wanted" when he took it a year ago.

While serving in the Union as director of community advocacy, Souffrant's responsibilities included serving as an advocate for the Brandeis community, running the Campus Life Committee meetings and being "a regular figure on campus who takes care of students' needs." He retires after serving on the Student Union since the beginning of the last academic school year.

"As for the Junior Representative to the Board of Trustees," wrote Acheampong of Gubbala's former position in an e-mail interview with the Justice, "we will hold a special election to fill the position as soon as possible."

"J.V. Souffrant, Linda Li, and Supreetha Gubbala did a great job in the Union," wrote Acheampong in an e-mail to the Justice. "They really believed in students' rights and advocacy, and remained committed to their roles. We will miss them."

In addition to these three resignations, other changes in the Union include the establishment of an Office of Communications, according to an Oct. 6 e-mail Union Secretary Herbie Rosen '12 sent from Student Union Director of Communications Andrea Ortega '13.

According to Ortega's e-mail, the Office of Communications will consist of the Union co-directors of communication, two writers, a newsletter editor and a website administrator.

The e-mail explains that the Office of Communications was created in an effort to promote "transparency, innovate new mediums of communication, and inform students on all the different ways they can get involved at Brandeis.