Editor's Note: Student Assembly Vice President Zach Pilchen ('09), last year's S.A. president, made these comments on Tuesday, Sept. 2, at a Student Assembly meeting. He announced he would be resigning as vice president.
I'm before you tonight because I made a very stupid decision which I deeply regret and take full responsibility for. I'm not here to sugarcoat what happened. I'm here to apologize and explain what transpired in detail.
In late April, I went to a movie and mistakenly used the check card of the S.A. Off-Campus Account, instead of my own, to purchase movie tickets. Immediately recognizing my mistake, I told Val and said I would pay back the amount. That instance, and that instance alone, was an accident.
Later in early May, running low on personal cash, I made the impulsive decision to make several small purchases with the S.A. card and reimburse them the first chance I got. To the extent I thought about it at the time, it seemed to make sense because I was already going to reimburse the S.A. fund for my first, accidental purchase so what was the harm in a few more small expenses? Looking back on it now, this made no sense.
There should be no mistake that the fault in this situation lies completely on me. Our past and current Secretaries of Finance, Valerie, and myself had made several plans to visit SunTrust to switch the account over to the new officers. I thought I could reimburse the account at the time of the switch. But one of us was always unavailable, and it didn't get done. Yesterday, Monday, was the first full day that both Valerie and I were back on campus. The $138.51 I loaned myself now has been reimbursed in full and all accounts have been properly switched over. It was never my intention to simply take this money without repaying it.
I am disappointed in myself for failing to appreciate that loaning myself even a small amount of money from the S.A. account was unacceptable. Above all, I am most upset over the possibility that my careless actions could cast a shadow over this Student Assembly - Your Student Assembly - an organization that I have come to love and which I know, despite what the naysayers may say, does an extraordinary job advocating in all realms for the interests of William and Mary students. That I could potentially detract from the S.A.’s work over the coming year, work that is vital to advancing student interests, pains me like nothing else. There’s been a no-exceptions Three Person Rule in Williamsburg for too long. There are still too many ways that William and Mary’s alcohol policy harms students more than it helps them. There are too many things that the S.A. needs to focus on for me to cast a pallor over this organization and bog it down with the sort of internal strife that I have always despised, and had hoped that we had forever moved past.
For that reason, I am resigning my position as Vice President of the Student Assembly effective immediately. I know that the future of this organization is in the most capable of hands, and I couldn’t be more proud of you. I’m excited to watch as you accomplish more great work this year, and I sincerely thank you for the opportunity you’ve offered me to be a part of this organization. In return, I can only ask for your understanding and forgiveness, and that you will remember my service with you for what we accomplished rather than my failings in this instance.