By Kiara Cain
This semester the G.L.U.E. Club went under leadership changes. President Landry Tippett resigned from her role. Ishmael Swiney, the original vice president, became the club’s new president.
Tippett’s decision to resign was a hard one to make, as she played a big role in helping build the foundation for G.L.U.E.
Tippett was in charge of planning and creating most of the events regarding the club. She made all the documents for logistics and kept everything organized in a shared Google Drive folder, made meeting agendas, the attendance sheets, and planned most of the details for the events.
However, despite doing so much for her club, she resigned after being treated poorly as president.
“There are many reasons I stepped down as the president of G.L.U.E. The main one was to put myself first as I felt very unsupported during my time as president,” Tippett stated. “There were also many decisions and factors that I did not agree with – the club began to stray away from what I felt it stood for.”
Although she has recently made the decision to resign, this has been an ongoing issue that she has experienced for months.
“This choice to back away from the club took months of thought and reflection. It was all I could think about at certain points,” Tippett stated. “The day that I stepped down I’d reached my breaking point. The courage to finally do it was a spur of the moment, but the decision was thought about meticulously.”
Upon stepping into his new role, Swiney plans on updating the club’s current protocols and enforcing the duties that members are expected to perform.
“I intend to address several of the club’s logistical deficiencies and disarray and also improve our lunch buddy program to make it more participatory and enjoyable for both our members and our Annex Angels,” Swiney says. “During my time as vice president, I saw a number of issues holding the organization back. Most notably, I saw that there needs to be more organization and communication among all members.”
Swiney also plans on making changes to attendance policies and dealing with inactive members in order to promote participation with activities.
“I, together with Ms. Caldwell, want to purge the attendance list and ensure that all club members meet their attendance criteria. There were members who never attended a meeting, a lunch buddy session, or paid club dues,” Swiney states. “We are removing inactive members of the leadership committee so that we may attract devoted people to our team.”
As a result of these changes, Tippett shares how she feels: “It’s hard seeing somebody else in charge of this club, but I hope that he (Ishmael) has a better experience and continues the legacy of what this club stands for.”
During her experience she wanted to help improve upon the club’s rules and regulations but had a hard time receiving the positive feedback from those around her. She says she would consider going back but with what she has experienced, it has completely changed the way she feels about the club.
“Under different circumstances, I would go back in a heartbeat. There are just so many reasons why that isn’t possible. I fought for a change and didn’t get it.”
In the club, there have been mixed responses about this big change.
“I feel like Ishmael is more of a leader and can put his foot down. He’s still very new though, so time will tell. I feel more hopeful with him in the president’s chair. Before, I felt the club was unorganized and last minute,” one member states. “But I am more hopeful with Ishmael.”
“I was definitely affected when Landry decided to step down. We used to always communicate about things going on in the club overall by sharing ideas and our opinions with each other,” another member says. “With G.L.U.E. we were able to create a bond. I am very thankful and grateful I got to be on her side as she was president because she was the reason that G.L.U.E was G.L.U.E.”
Many members have taken the change well and have positive reactions on how the club is now going to be run, while others seem to have no interest in continuing to participate now that the unexpected change has happened.
Despite the struggles that she has faced, Tippett shares her encouragement to those who are still considering pursuing their own clubs.
You should never stop yourself from doing something good because you feel like you might fail. It’s so easy to become overwhelmed and overwork yourself, so surround yourself with people who will support you,” she says. “The two Event Coordinators, Tyah Davis and A’Yana Taylor were absolutely amazing. I couldn’t have reached this point without them.”