Despite the initial shock of the sudden resignations of its president and an executive board member in a two-day span, the Undergraduate Council of Students has made clear that it is ready to move on.
"I think UCS members were surprised that there were two medically related resignations at this point of the semester," said UCS Communications Chair Tristan Freeman '07. "(But) I think UCS members as a whole are optimistic about the work we've done and about the work ahead of us."
"In other years, it could have been far worse than this," said Zac Townsend '08, chair of the Admissions and Student Services Committee. "This year, we have a strong group of individuals who are going to step into positions and do very well. I don't expect much will be affected."
Although there will be an internal election Wednesday to fill the openings left by former UCS President Brian Bidadi '06 and former Academic and Administrative Affairs Chair Dave Beckoff '08, who both resigned earlier this week for medical reasons, only one candidate has emerged to take each spot.
Five executive board members said the leading candidate to replace Bidadi is Vice President and current Acting President Sarah Saxton-Frump '07.
"I think Sarah would make a tremendous president," Freeman said. "She's had around three years of experience and she's always been a leading candidate for what students want at Brown."
But Saxton-Frump said she wants others to run for president.
"I don't want to discourage other executive board members from running just because I'm vice president," she said.
Freeman, who worked closely with Beckoff on the AAA committee, is also currently running unopposed to become the next AAA chair. He received equally glowing praise from UCS Secretary Michael Thompson '07, who works closely with Freeman in the Communications Committee.
"The only reason I wouldn't want Tristan to (be the next AAA chair) is because he's done so much for the Communications Committee," said Thompson. "He's totally qualified ... one of the most qualified on the executive board."
With the immediate future of UCS seemingly in competent hands, executive board members have concerned themselves more with the health of the two students on medical leave. While Beckoff's resignation was not unexpected - it was known that Beckoff was feeling a reoccurrence of a chronic illness at the end of the fall semester - Bidadi's resignation caught everyone off-guard.
"We were really shocked," said Student Activities Chair Cash McCracken '08. "We found out really recently and we really don't know much about Brian's condition."
Townsend said he had spoken with Bidadi a day before his resignation and said that everything seemed normal. He added that after the resignation, he received an e-mail from Bidadi on Wednesday stating that he was feeling better and would try to visit Brown as often as possible during his semester off.
