It wasn’t business as usual Nov. 18 when Los Medanos College Associated Students Treasurer Rossana Clark resigned unexpectedly during the weekly meeting.

The members were progressing normally through the agenda and Clark was in the midst of reporting details of a meeting she had recently attended at Diablo Valley College. She spoke briefly, took a breath, paused in between sentences, then stated loudly “I resign.”

Clark slid a paper across the table and added, “This is my letter of resignation.”  The room went silent for a moment while everyone looked around at each other to process what had just happened.

Then the LMCAS President Briana Klipp took control of the room and broke the silence by moving onto the next agenda item.

In an interview after the meeting, Clark explained she made her decision following her unhappiness with the LMCAS decision earlier this semester to cancel the Breast Cancer Awareness Conference that had been planned for Oct. 12.

“I had no more joy working on it. A lot of work went into this and it didn’t happen,” she said. “The senate didn’t work during the summer, I did …  I couldn’t deal with it.”

Klipp declined requests for direct comments about the resignation, but simply stated, “She had her own issues.”

According to an article in the Nov. 1 edition of the Experience, the Breast Cancer Awareness Conference was canceled due to a lack of student interest. There was a difference of opinion among members of LMCAS. While some claimed not enough had signed up, others said enough paper applications had been turned in by the deadline but had simply not been input in time for the official tally.

Ultimately Klipp and the majority of the LMCAS decided to cancel the event, which Clark had persistent misgivings about. This contributed to her stepping down as treasurer.

Student Life Coordinator Demetria Lawrence said people have resigned in the past for various reasons.

“As an adviser, I expect there to be tensions, but not necessarily this one. There are challenges with personalities as people work together and develop leadership skills — learning conflict resolution is a skill that takes practice.”

Clark, who had been one of the organizers of the Breast Cancer Awareness Conference, said it meant a lot to her and she will continue to pursue it by other means.

“I am a breast cancer survivor,” she said, adding that her brother and sister are cancer survivors as well.