Associated Students of Madison secretary Madhuvanthi Sridhar officially handed in her resignation from the council Thursday.
Sridhar follows campus activist Kenneth Cole as the second student to have resigned from the council in the past two days.
Having been a part of ASM for the last two semesters, Sridhar served as a student representative for the University of Wisconsin College of Engineering and was later voted to the secretary position.
As a member of Blind Side, a group of students who raise diversity issues on campus, Sridhar worked to increase the amount of women in STEM.
Though she said she enjoyed being a part of the student government, she decided to resign because she needed time for herself.
In light of recent council meetings, including the most recent where Cole addressed the sexual assault allegations against him, Sridhar said the environment started to become unhealthy for her.
“I think the last council meetings started to trigger things from my past which wasn’t healthy for me,” Sridhar said. “It brought back some anxiety.”
Along with the newly redeveloped anxiety, Sridhar said the stress from the council was beginning to take a toll on her academics.
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While it was not specifically Cole’s resignation that prompted her own, she said the environment that was created afterward led to her decision.
After Cole gave his resignation speech, Council Chair Carmen Gosey spoke about the need for men to be held accountable and take responsibility for their actions.
Once Gosey spoke up, Sridhar said there was a lot of “back-and-forth” that started to trigger certain feelings from her past, which prompted her to leave the meeting early.
When she first joined ASM, Sridhar said she felt like she had a safe space to go to. As the semester progressed, she no longer felt that it was a safe space for her.
“This is not a dig at ASM, Kenneth Cole or anyone in particular,” Sridhar said. “I feel very vulnerable and very fragile right now, and I need to be in a space where I can see myself grow. “
