USG President Alyssa Taylor has appointed Jessica Johnson as her new Vice President after the surprise resignation of her running mate, Ethan Milich, in late October.
USG announced the appointment via an executive order on Thursday, Nov. 7 after a brief search for a replacement carried about by Taylor and the USG Senate.
“I look forward to serving the Brooklyn College community,” commented Johnson on the Instagram post announcing her selection as the new Vice President.
Johnson, a double major in Business and Business Administration with aspirations to enter law school post-graduation, was a recent addition to the USG Senate, taking one of the positions vacated by the large number of resignations the body so far this semester. Johnson is a senior at BC, a transfer from Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), the President of the National Black Law Student Association’s BC chapter, and the current Vice President of the NAACP on campus.
“I have a feel for just wanting things to go in the right direction,” she said. Johnson found out about the opening as a Senate member, and put her name in for consideration. “I said I was interested and was nominated by a fellow senator,” she explained.
She found out about her appointment via an e-mail to the USG senate in advance of the public announcement.
“I was happy,” she said. “I am excited to be in the position.”
As Vice President, Johnson hopes to bring student wishes to fruition and promote harmony between the branches of USG and the administration.
“It’s all for the good of the campus community,” she said.
Her appointment comes after now former Vice President Ethan Milich resigned his position, saying that he was “no longer the best person to be serving as Vice President” in an e-mail sent to the USG body on Oct. 23. Milich’s resignation is just the marquee name on a long list of departures within the government. At least seven senators have vacated their positions since the start of term, along with most of Taylor’s original executive board, and at least two senators have been expelled from the body for not attending senate meetings.
“Sometimes people bite off more than they can chew,” said Johnson. “That’s not indicative of what they are capable of.”
Amidst the resignations, some take issue with the process in which the VP appointment was made, criticizing it for lacking transparency.
“It is absolutely ridiculous that the student body was informed of the vacancy almost two weeks after Ethan resigned, in the same article that announced a new VP had been chosen,” argued Corrinne Greene, a vocal activist in the BC community and former President of BC’s Young Progressives of America chapter. Milich’s resignation was made public last week in the Nov. 6 issue of Vanguard, and was not directly acknowledged on any of USG’s social media pages.
“I should know a lot more about what’s going on in USG than I do,” said Greene.
Hamza Khilji, a former CLAS Senator and USG Presidential candidate was one of three candidates in contention for the VP position. Although he spoke before the Senate, he feels wasn’t given a fair chance.
“I entered a race I was never considered for, so that was always a factor against me,” Khilji told the Vanguard.
He also agrees with Greene that the entire process could be more clear. “The process of the resignation and the opening for the position could have been far more transparent,” he said.
“I won’t say the public doesn’t have the right to know,” said Jessica Johnson, “But we have a set of by-laws we follow.”
Regardless, barring any other resignations, Johnson will hold the VP position until the end of the spring semester, when a new ticket will be voted in.