Yesterday afternoon, through their Facebook Page, student organisation for psychology students, Betapsi, announced the resignation of their Leisure Officer, Kurt Abela.
One must point out, that Abela’s was the second resignation for Betapsi in less than six months, following the resignation of President John Paul Muscat last summer. At that time, the Betapsi Executive decided that Valeriya Bonkova should assume the role of Betapsi President, while Micheala Scerri who at the time occupied the role of Public Relations Officer, filled the role of Vice President. A few weeks later, through an Extraordinary General Meeting, Gabriella Cauchi was elected as Betapsi’s Public Relations Officer.
According to the press release which was published by Betapsi, yesterday’s resignation was the result of a disagreement between Abela and Betapsi’s Financial Officer, Miriana Ferrito, regarding the budget which should be allocated for a specific event.
Thus following yesterday’s resignation, The Third Eye contacted Betapsi’s President, Valeriya Bonkova to clarify the situation.
“Anyone who has been involved in student organisations is aware that student activism is not a joke,” started Bonkova. “In a team one needs to strive to achieve what’s in the best interest of the student body which they are representing and aim to create new opportunities for the organisation. It is our responsibility to honour the work of our predecessors, whilst providing exceeding opportunities to our successors. In a team of nine people with different opinions and perspectives, at some points it could be very challenging to reach a consensus. Yet, as Betapsi we have always strived to find a common ground during this term and I truly believe that our work has resulted in one of the most successful years for Betapsi.”
“Personally, like any other President of a student organisation, I have tried my very best to take it upon me to listen to every single individual and ensure that their ideas become a reality, which can be seen in the extension of our events during this term. From a team of nine executive members we have expanded to over forty people including our office members and subcommittees. Despite this sudden growth, communication has always been a key aspect for the team and I have always tried to ensure everyone is able to open up once any form of issue arises.”
“However, when the finances of the organisation are threatened, it is beyond any of us to accept such a threat. When dealing with the finances of the organisation, we are representing the work of previous executive boards, whilst being responsible to the financial situation of those to follow. It is our responsibility to safeguard the finances of the organisation, and ensure that conflict is minimized by finding feasible alternatives. In this situation, as can be read in the resignation note which we have published yesterday, such a common ground could not be established despite the possibility of various alternatives.”
“This resignation is definitely been a loss for the Betapsi Executive team, as we have established a bond and gone through a lot together to let anything else break us along the way. We definitely feel that the situation should’ve been handled once alternatives were found. Perhaps in order to view it from a different perspective, we also need to understand that when someone is very passionate about a specific thing which they do, being unable to pursue it will cause frustration which no alternatives can simply fix. Thus, we would like to thank Kurt for the passion he has put into his work as Leisure Officer during this term nonetheless.”
Bonkova ruled out the possibility of an Extraordinary General Meeting to fill the role of Leisure Officer.
“An EGM will not follow as we are in the last month of our term,” she explained. “We have a jam packed month full of various events which we will work hard to make them successful. Apart from these events, we also need to be focused on closing the term and settling any pending matters.”