The day after Danielle Moore '95 shocked the campus by resigning as Student Assembly president, reactions across campus range from support to respect to disgust.
Dean of Student Life Holly Sateia said, "Danielle's resignation is a great loss to the Assembly and the campus. She has been a terrific leader and a mediating force within the Assembly.
"Selfishly, I would have liked her to stay on, but there comes a point when students have to assess the personal costs of leadership, and I think that's what Danielle did in this case," Sateia said.
Moore announced her resignation, effective Nov. 21, on Sunday night. Among the reasons she gave were her frustration at having to constantly mediate political infighting within the Assembly and the feeling that as a woman leader she was not receiving the respect she deserved.
"Her resignation is a statement that things have got to change within the Assembly," Sateia said.
Sateia said Moore's resignation also provides an opportunity for Assembly to reexamine itself. "I think the campus should review SA, and SA should review its own mission and goals," Sateia said.
Some members of the Assembly expressed disappointment with Moore's decision, though they voiced their respect and support; others doubted her justifications and questioned what will become of the Assembly.
"She wrote [in her editorial] that many will call her a quitter, and indeed that is what she is," said Kishan Putta '96, an Assembly member. Putta added that Moore's resignation was "base" and the reasons given "inconceivable."
Putta sent a BlitzMail message yesterday to 300 freshmen asking them to write letters to The Dartmouth supporting Assembly Secretary John Honovich '96, whose actions Moore said were partially responsible for her decision to resign. The Dartmouth had received 36 messages last nihght in support of Honovich.
Kenji Sugahara '95, who ran against Moore for the Assembly presidency last spring, said he did not want Moore to resign. "With her resignation, the future of SA looks really bad," he said.
Sugahara said Moore's resignation continues the recent streak of controversy surrounding the Assembly presidency. Shortly after Stewart Shirasu '94 won the presidency in the spring of 1993, he resigned amid allegations of campaign overspending. His successor, Nicole Artzer '94, later faced impeachment charges.
Alex Morgan '95, co-chair of the Assembly's Communications Committee, disagreed with Moore's contention that women leaders are not respected. "As one of the eight female [Assembly] executives, not once have I felt oppressed or abused.
"If [Moore] wanted to affect positive change, she would have stayed. By resigning, she's throwing the entire Assembly into turmoil and bringing everything to a screeching halt," Morgan said.
Honovich, whose behavior Moore cited as a partial reason for her resignation, said yesterday that he did not want to comment and that he will release a statement at tonight's General Assembly meeting.
In a BlitzMail message, Women's Resource Center Director Giavanna Munafo expressed disappointment that "the Assembly was not able or willing to respond to Danielle's progressive agenda more productively."
A majority of students interviewed by The Dartmouth either were apathetic toward the resignation or did not know enough about the Assembly to care.
Some students sympathized with Moore.
"The SA has been receiving a lot of bad press lately and I can see how she would be frustrated with the situation," John Coleman '98 said.
Rob Fasini '98 said, "She deserves the right to step down if she can't handle the stress of the fighting and apathy of the SA."
Other students questioned Moore's motives.
Seth Goldman '95 said, "I found her justifications to be ridiculous. If she did not get respect, then it had nothing to do with her being female.
"She said in her editorial that most of the committee chairs and task force chairs in SA are women yet she claims she didn't get respect because she was a woman. Who was she not getting respect from?" he asked.
John Ferrie '96 said, "It seems [Moore] has a rather strange propensity towards leaving organizations and then making a big fuss about it," he said. "Apparently she believes she is a better leader when she's not present to lead, which is rather ironic."
Moore's depledging of Delta Delta Delta sorority two summers ago received campus-wide attention and helped spark debate on how minorities are treated in the Greek system.
There were mixed opinions on how Moore's resignation would affect the immediate future of the Assembly. Sateia said Assembly Vice President Rukmini Sichutiu '95, who will take over upon Moore's resignation, "has a history with SA and she's absolutely committed to the Assembly."
But Putta strongly disagreed about Sichutiu's credentials. "I'm wary of her leadership capabilities," he said. " The thought of her leading the Assembly is scary to me."
Coleman said, "The disinterest in student politics is probably not a result of anything Danielle Moore did, and so a new president will not be likely to change the situation."
