After less than one semester of serving as the Vice President for Multicultural Affairs on the Student Assembly, Ju-Sun Lee announced his resignation last night.
The announcement came two weeks after Lee withdrew from Binghamton University.
Lee, a junior, decided to leave because of business opportunities related to the software he has been developing since high school.
According to Lee, his work on software used for the layout of such websites as xanga.com and MySpace.com, in addition to recent business propositions, have led him to decide to quit school and dedicate himself to a career. He runs createblog.com, a Web site that aids bloggers in the creation of their own Web sites.
“Like a month ago I started getting calls from venture capitalists from Silicon Valley,” Lee said.
Lee said that over the summer he went to China to hire two post-graduate computer science majors from Qingdao University to aid him with his business. Since he couldn’t finish his plans before classes started, he began to consider not coming back to BU early in the semester.
“I’ve been thinking about it for a long time,” Lee said. “I have a vision of where [online] social networking is going.”
Lee says he has spent the last two weeks preparing the office of Multicultural Affairs for his departure.
His announcement follows a weekend getaway for the S.A., during which leadership skills were honed and relationships between S.A. representatives were formed.
The getaway, which was the first ever, was described as a success by many of those who attended.
“They should definitely have another S.A. getaway,” said Ivy Zang, a S.A. representative from Mountainview and freshman nursing major. “It was pretty awesome.”
Sixty-four students spent the weekend at Kutshire’s Country Club in Monticello, New York.
For many, the trip’s highlight was marked by a speech made by David Hagerbaumer, the Director of Campus Life. Hagerbaumer detailed the school’s history, as well as his extensive experience with the S.A., which spans over 25 years.
“I learned a lot about not only the S.A., but also about the history of the school,” said Brian Monaghan, a representative for Off-Campus College, and a senior cinema major.
Although Monaghan bruised some of the bones in his foot and endured possible fractures during the trip, he still enjoyed himself.
“To be completely honest, it was the only downfall to the trip,” Monaghan said.
There were 150 spots available free of cost, although only 64 students attended. The trip was paid for by the “deficit account,” which is from surplus student activity fees.
Another getaway is planned for the spring semester, although no concrete plans have been made yet. David Belsky, the executive vice president of the S.A., has hopes for more attendance for the following trip.
“Communities should have sent more people,” Zang said. “There should have been better advertising.”
Although it will also be paid for from the deficit account, there are safeguards in place to prevent the money from being misused.
“The money is used in the interest of the student body, not just the S.A,” said Mike Smyth, S.A. president.
“There are certain guidelines, like you can’t just use the student activity fee for whatever we see fit,” Smyth said. “I can’t go to the store and buy myself a purebred dog because I think it will look cute around the office.”