Courtesy of Alexandria Bishop
By Emily Wunderlich
The senate president of Student Government resigned Thursday, just two months into the 48th term.
Alexandria “Lexi” Bishop, a sophomore political science major, said her decision to resign was due to unexpected events in her personal life.
“I left on good terms with everyone in SG and hope to still work with the 48th term as a constituent,” she said in an email to The Crow’s Nest. “I am no longer able to dedicate the full amount of time and energy that I believe a great leader should.
“Even though I will still be on campus, it would not be right for me to make SG suffer because I have other responsibilities that require the same level of my concentration.”
In her July 11 resignation email to SG members, Bishop said she was “honored” to serve the legislative branch.
“I feel that at this time, it is best for me to leave my position due to unforeseen personal circumstances in my life that would affect my ability to properly lead the legislative branch to what each and every student deserves,” she wrote.
After resolving the issues that have taken her away from SG, Bishop plans to establish a chapter of College Republicans on campus.
Under SG statutes, Katie Fishman, the senate president pro-tempore, will take Bishop’s place effective immediately. There will be a vote of confidence in Fishman’s ability to serve as senate president at the first general assembly meeting in the fall.
The senate policy chair, Veronica Jimenez, will assume Fishman’s role as pro-tempore.
“As Senate President, I want to continue Lexi’s work on transparency, especially in the budgeting process,” Fishman said. “I hope to also increase the quality of SG’s working relationship with student publications such as The Crow’s Nest and the student body at large, and I also hope to make various internal improvements to Student Government, such as streamlining certain documents and the like with the help of our new pro-tempore.”
Bishop and Fishman both lauded SG for a “productive summer.”
The organization passed a bill restructuring the executive cabinet; confirmed a club constitution; met with new system President Steven Currall; passed several executive nominations and met with both the System President Advisory Board and the Consolidation Task Force Committee on matters relating to consolidation, which will take effect in a little under a year.
“Lexi did so much in the short amount of time that she was senate president along with Katherine Fishman as the senate pro-tempore,” said Jadzia “Jazzy” Duarte, student body president. “I appreciated the opportunity to work with Lexi and will be happy to support her in her future endeavors at USFSP.”
Bishop’s resignation comes after a tumultuous time for SG, which in April passed a $1.3 million budget in activities and services fees that allocated more than $220,000 for SG itself — with more than $70,000 going toward salaries alone — while slashing the funding for other campus clubs and organizations.
In the spring, Bishop served on the four-member SG committee that determined the student body vice president would not be impeached after she used Twitter to publicly attack her co-workers and address them by their sexuality.
The committee also determined that five other SG members would not be impeached for their involvement in attempting to get the entire judicial branch impeached.
Bishop was also a speaker at the university’s annual TEDxUSFSP event in April, where she opened up about her struggles with mental health.
