As the new director for alumni and parent relations (I was appointed in late August), I always read The Elm with great interest. My interest turned to concern, however, upon reading the January 25, 2002 , article entitled "Executive Board Statement" which set forth the reasons cited by the SGA Executive Board in asking for Penny Tilghman's resignation.
The initial example of her alleged lack of professionalism mentioned in the article detailed her failure to attend the Board of Visitors and Governors meeting on December 8, 2001 "without probable cause." I feel compelled to set the record straight. I am the reason that Penny Tilghman missed the Board of Visitors and Governors meeting. I offered Penny a ride to the meeting which was held off-campus in St. Michael's. Because of my relative unfamiliarity with the Washington College campus, I misunderstood where I was supposed to meet Penny on the morning of the meeting; consequently, we never made contact and I went to the meeting alone.
While I realize that the issues surrounding Penny's resignation were complex, I want to assure the SGA Executive Committee that she had no control over the circumstances which caused her to miss the Board meeting on December 8. It simply wouldn't be fair to blame her for not fulfilling her responsibility in this case.
Sincerely,
Pamela Chamberlain
Director of Alumni and Parent Relations
Dear Elm,
I must speak my piece on the SGA Presidential resignation issue. I have known Penny throughout my four years here and I know her pretty well. I know that she is a great person and that even if any accusations about her are true, she did not do anything to hurt the school or the SGA on purpose.
Secondly, I must say that, although the times that I see Penny are few and far between, she always has a smile and a genuinely nice hello, which is more than can be said for many people on this campus. A new student friend of mine commented on how great the speech that Penny gave to the new students and freshmen in August was, and how she can't believe that people could say such bad things about Penny. Some of the accusations made in the letter to Penny asking for her seem odd to me.
Not all presidents have known the Constitutional Procedure, and they don't need to know, because that should be the job of the Parlimentarian; I wonder if He knows the Constitutional Procedure by heart.
The most important part of my argument lies in response to the Executive Board Statement. I find it hilarious that the Executive Board accused Penny of not attending the Counting Crows concert, because I sat right there on the floor next to her, joking with her about her hurt middle finger and complaining about the fact that the Crows didn't play "Mr. Jones."
It is also hilarious because my fiance, and at least three of my friends did the same with Penny. Unless there's some kind of collective mis-memory, Penny was there.
I never noticed a problem with the campus, or the SGA until Penny's resignation, and I think that says more than the rest of my letter does.
Not quite so sincerely,
A very concerned senior.
300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, Maryland 21620 | 410-778-2800 | 800-422-1782