Early Thursday morning, Feb. 21, Chief of Staff of the Executive Branch of Student Government, Ryan Dunn, a third-year studying political science, announced in an email that he would resign from his role for undisclosed reasons, effective immediately.

According to Dunn, Student Body President Jess Errico, a fifth-year studying mechanical and aerospace engineering, and Student Body Vice President Meredith Spence-Beaulieu, a Ph.D. student in entomology, both supported his decision to resign after a discussion with him.

An undisclosed incident which Dunn referred to as “a lapse in judgement” led to his immediate resignation. The incident, Dunn said, was not within the purview of his role as chief of staff. He also said that there were personal circumstances leading up to it which led him to that decision.

“That was not who I am,” Dunn said. “That is not the student leader that I would like to be, and although it’s already happened [and] damage is done, all I can hope for is a chance to do better and to show everyone who I have disappointed that this is not me and that this does not define me, and that I’ve learned a lot from this situation and that I hope to continue to work to make things better and to be better.”

Errico said that Dunn’s departure was related to actions that did not live up to the platform she and Spence-Beaulieu ran on last year. Dunn said he did not serve up to his role, and at a certain point could not separate his dual roles as chief of staff and candidate for student body treasurer.

“Everyone makes mistakes,” Dunn said. “Everyone falls short. I definitely had my fair share of setbacks and falling short on a multitude of things. I’m not going to pretend that I’m a perfect person, and this is unfortunately something that I’ve done, so now I just need to promise myself [and] the people that I have let down that I am pledging to be better.”

Dunn is still a candidate for student body treasurer, running against opponent Garrison Seitz, a first-year studying engineering. It remains unclear whether the incident that led to Dunn’s resignation will affect his eligibility to campaign for the role.

“I will be better,” Dunn said. “I will serve up to the high expectations that I have for myself as a student leader and as a representative of the student body.”