Nine RSU board positions deemed vacant due to lack of attendance

By Alanna Rizza

UPDATE: Three Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) board of directors have been reappointed to the board after their positions were deemed vacant due to members failing to attend regularly scheduled meetings.

According to RSU bylaws, a director shall be deemed vacant if the members fail to attend two board meetings without notice, or if they miss three meetings with notice. RSU president Obaid Ullah sent an email to the board members on Feb. 28 to let them know he would be enforcing this bylaw.

Marzia Riaz, Nasrudin Mumin, Abisola Asha were reappointed at the RSU board of directors meeting on March 2. The Eyeopener previously reported that Anna Stevenson’s board position was deemed vacant but the original attendance list was incorrect.

In order to make the vacancy official, the chair of the board, Ullah, has to enforce this bylaw.

Ullah said he didn’t enforce this before because “things got busy.” Last month’s motion to impeach vice-president student life & events Harman Singh also delayed him from following through, he said.

In the email, Ullah said he would be meeting with some board members to reassess the situation because he understands there may be “valid reasons” as to why they were absent.

There are 37 total spots on the board, but at the time of publication, there were only 22 official members remaining.

The members whose positions are still deemed vacant include:  Chrys Saget-Richard, Naveed Khan, Dilsah Ruken Izol, Betty Wang and Carolyn Qin.

Five board members also collectively resigned on Feb. 6 due to the current RSU executive team not fulfilling their duties, according to their resignation letter. The letter specifically cited Ullah and Singh’s lack of transparency and communication with 6 Fest refunds.

The board members who resigned were Anthony Esguerra, Michelle Park, Nav Marwah, Sandra Bahoua and Michael Foppiano.

However according to the bylaws, Bahoua’s position was considered vacant before her resignation, as she missed four meetings with notice.

According to bylaws, when a position on the board becomes vacant, Ullah will perform a search in consultation with the RSU executive committee to appoint new members. He will then recommend the suggested members to the remaining board.