This Wednesday, Acadia students will go to the polls to vote for their new Student Union executives and

representatives, marking the second ASU electoral campaign that I have followed. For those of you that missed the debate (almost everyone) the dialogue followed the lines of improved communication, improved transparency, improved accountability, or, for those of you that were at least years debate, (and I imagine it safe to assume the same of a collection of years before that) almost exactly the same. There was one glaring difference though, whereas last year the most fiercely debated and critiqued issue was the role of the newly formed office of VP Communications and the flood of allstudent emails; this years debate for the position was comparatively subdued, and more noticeably, the current VP Communications was receiving nothing but praise for the performance thus far. Grant Oyston was, until this past Friday, our ASU VP Communications, and as was remarked to me by a friend during the debate man people just go buck wild for that guy. So when two days later Oyston publicly resigned from his office I was shocked, not only because of the positive public impression he has garnered, but because my perceptions of Oyston, both online and in person, were always of someone literally bred for the role of a communications executive. On Facebook, Twitter, our own website, his Visible Children Tumblr that was at the forefront of the Kony 2012 backlash, and I am sure many other platforms of which I am unaware, Oyston seems to tirelessly speak on and curate a

myriad of issues and debates (so much so that I hide and unhide his Facebook activity on a near weekly basis). Oyston was easily the most visible of the ASU Executives on campus, seemed to love (or at least was naturally driven towards) his duties, and was clearly supported by the students he had been elected to inform and represent. So why, with barely two months before the end of his term did he resign and publically endorse Beth Barkhouse, the candidate running against incumbent president Matt Rios? Neither Oyston nor Rios were able to comment on Fridays announcements, except to say that Oystons resignation was for personal reasons; however the endorsement of Rios only opponent, which was made directly after Oystons resignation should speak volumes. The role of the President, as outlined in the constitution, is large, both in responsibility and vagueness. Essentially the president is to sit on, or hold accountable, nearly every committee within the ASU, but there are few exact duties detailed. What is clear, is that it is among Presidents primary duties is to lead and manage the ASU Executive team. Whether or not Rios has truly failed in this role, is mere speculation, but for the reasons detailed above, it seems remarkable that Oystons (who continues to discuss and inform student issues dialogues on his social media platforms) decision to leave was merely personal. Such an occurrence seems even more remarkable given Oystons endorsement of Beth Barkhouse within

minutes of his resignation. This is not to assume that Oystons endorsement arrives out of spite - when questioned he assured me that Ms. Barkhouses two years of experience as a House President has prepared her to bring her innovative and fresh ideas to the Union. I find Beths leadership style to be very effective. Oyston urged students to bear in mind while voting that our Executives represent us, not only to our University administration, but also to a large collection of student, government and community groups far beyond Wolfville. Oyston has also endorsed Lindsay Doucet to replace him as VP Communications and Alysha Roberts as Councillor. He concluded by stating that Its been a pleasure and an honour serving the students of Acadia for these 10 months, and Ill leave with a heavy heart. Mr. Oyston will be attending the University of Toronto next year with an exchange scholarship program from Acadia University.