Student Government President Ruben Becerra Jr. resigned from his position Monday morning, citing his inability to make the weekly Student Government Senate meetings  Becerra is the third SG president in two years to leave office before their terms ends.
According to Sen. Claudia Gasponi, the Student Government president isn’t required to attend the meetings. The Constitution and Governing Code doesn’t explicitly state the president must be in attendance, but it doesn’t say the inverse either.
Previously, 2017-18 President Connor Clegg was removed from office following contentious impeachment trials and 2018-19 President Brooklyn Boreing resigned in the first few weeks of the fall semester.
After rumors regarding Becerra’s resignation floated around last week, the graduate student officially announced his immediate resignation first in an email addressed to Student Government officials. Becerra has not responded to multiple interview requests by The University Star.
The resignation letter states current Vice President Alison Castillo will fill Becerra’s seat for the remainder of this year’s presidential term. Castillo is currently campaigning to be the 2019-20 vice president under presidential candidate and current chief of staff Matthew Gonzales. Current Senate Pro Tempore Keely Freund will fill the vice presidency for the remainder of this term. No swearing-in information for Castillo or Freund is available at this time.
Because rumors of Becerra’s resignation had circulated, Gonzales and Castillo outlined what would happen if Becerra were to resign prematurely during a previous interview with The University Star.
Castillo plans to keep Gonzales as chief of staff for this term as the campaign for next term carries on. Additionally, Gonzales said they will be able to immediately do what they promised on the campaign trail following Becerra’s resignation.
“Since we’ll be in that position, we can immediately act on those campaign wishes and goals that we’re wanting,” Gonzales said.
Becerra’s resignation adds to the already tumultuous election campaign season.
The University Star will follow up on this story as information about the swearing-in of Castillo and Freud becomes available.