The UTSU has announced the resignation of Lucinda Qu, the union’s Vice President, External.

Qu’s resignation was confirmed at the October 19 Board of Directors meeting. The agenda for the meeting included a confidential motion that was discussed ‘in camera.’

The union’s statement was released shortly after 12:00 am on October 29; it highlighted Qu’s work supporting UNITE HERE Local 75 and the Good Food Markets over the summer.

“We thank Lucinda for her service to the UTSU, and we wish her the best in all of her future endeavours,” a portion of the statement reads.

The union’s statement calls the reasons for Qu’s resignation “personal,” with no further details and asks “that members of the community be respectful of her privacy.”

The statement clarifies that Board of Directors will soon be accepting applications to fill the vacancy and appoint a new Vice President External, with more details to come this week: “All applicants will be interviewed by the Nominating Committee, which will then forward no fewer than two applicants to the Board. Applications will close on 25 November 2016.”

Under the UTSU’s bylaws, elections can only happen during the designated fall and spring election time periods; because of this, the vacancy needs to be filled through an appointment.

UTSU President Jasmine Wong Denike told The Varsity that the Board of Directors agreed to hold off announcing Qu’s resignation until the nominating committee was struck. “Board members were given a week from last Thursday (Oct. 19th) to nominate themselves to sit on the committee,” she said.

Qu was elected during the spring elections with the Hello UofT slate, along with the rest of the current executive.

The last time a UTSU executive resigned in the middle of their term was in November 2014, when Pierre Harfouche, Vice-President University Affairs at the time, circulated his resignation in an email to the UTSU Board of Directors.

Denike declined to divulge further on the circumstances of the resignation, citing Qu’s privacy. Qu did not immediately respond to The Varsity’s request for comment.