By CHELSEA FLEISCHMAN

Staff Writer

[email protected]

Additional reporting contributed by Katie Mchugh.

After a few weeks in office, Allegheny Student Government Vice President Morgan Schrankel, ’13, resigned.  President Keiron Stoddart, ’13, made the announcement at Tuesday’s general meeting.
Stoddart said that she resigned because of “personal reasons.”
“It wasn’t an easy decision and it’s not something that I came into the position thinking I’d have to do,” Schrankel said.  “The best case scenario for myself and the organization at this point is for me to step down.”
Just three weeks ago, Schrankel and Stoddart were “optimistic” about developing a long-term strategic plan.
“This had the potential to look bad, but at the same time, it was personal and had nothing to do with ASG as an organization,” Stoddart said.  “I respect Morgan for the decision that she made.”
Stoddart alerted the ASG cabinet of Schrankel’s decision on Monday night.  He said that it wasn’t much of a secret and that word would spread quickly.
ASG Senator Michael Kilcoyne, ’12, heard about the resignation before the general meeting.
“It was definitely still a surprise,” he said. “It didn’t appear to me that she was being over-tasked, but obviously being vice president, there’s a lot of responsibilities.”
Schrankel said that she doesn’t think her decision will hinder ASG’s further progress.
“I support [ASG] wholeheartedly from this point forward, even though I can’t support it in the way I thought I could,” she said.
According to Stoddart, Tuesday’s meeting continued as normal after the announcement was made.
The steps to finding a replacement for Schrankel will a while, Stoddart said.  According to ASG by-laws, the president must appoint someone for the vacant position.  From there, a super-majority, or two-thirds vote, from the senate will determine whether Stoddart’s selection is appointed.
“I don’t know when we’re going to have someone selected,” he said.  “The reason that it is going to need to take so long is because it’s a very important decision to make and it’s not something that anyone wants to take lightly.”