I have decided that it is in my best interest to resign from Senate. I am no longer interested in serving as a part of this body, and I feel that the last few weeks have been very destructive and detrimental to our decorum among each other as individuals as well as my personal happiness as a senator. I have loved, still love and will continue to love Senate, but I have found that it is better for me to continue doing the activism I do on campus as a student apart from the body of Senate. The recent issues we have had as a body have made me realize that perhaps all the strings and complexities of Senate, especially compensation, are not issues that I want to be focused on when I participate in activism to improve the inner workings of Oberlin. In the future, I hope to be paid for the activism I do, but in a way where the guidelines are clear and my work does not implicate me.

These last few weeks have caused me to reflect a lot on my time as a senator and on the goals I had in mind when I joined. I am left with peace in my mind knowing that I accomplished most of these goals already and have made considerable strides towards accomplishing all of them. Despite all of the conversations circling around this past incident and around my name and reputation, I will not accept being misjudged, especially considering that I know who I am as a person, I know how I’ve been raised and I know that I would never intentionally commit errors that jeopardize my reputation or my work. I know that I have done and will continue to do excellent work for our campus, but I see now that Senate no longer needs to be the space in which I do that. As I said, I still appreciate what being on Senate has taught me, and I always will, but I can see now that it is time for me to move on.

I will continue to serve Oberlin as a student leader, and I will not slow down with the necessary, relentless and rewarding work that I do in tandem with many great leaders on this ca mpus. I am ready to move on from Senate now as I see that perhaps its binding nature, in some respects, is not the space in which I can be my most productive self. I can see now that I never needed to be on Senate to be as efficient as I wanted to be and to accomplish all of what I wanted to accomplish, and that I will achieve the same and more as a student working outside of the body.

I have appreciated the work I have done with all of you this semester, and I am proud of our strides. Although it is unfortunate that the journey has to end under such poor circumstances, I am grateful that our body is catching long-awaited systemic errors and that Senate will be able to move forward with more efficiency, and with time, excellence.

All of that being said, please consider this my official resignation from Senate, and I wish all of you the best of luck tonight, in the rest of this semester and your continued semesters on Senate.

–Eliza Revella Diop
College junior