On April 30, Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU) Vice President (VP) External Omar Mousa resigned ahead of the union’s delayed emergency Board of Directors (BOD) meeting. 

This resignation follows the SCSU’s failure to ratify its 2025 election results at the March BOD meeting, preventing elected executive candidates and BOD candidates from taking office on May 1. 

Delayed meeting

On April 11, the SCSU held a BOD meeting to discuss the non-ratification of its election results with its legal team during an in-camera session where only voting members were present. The Board also received a confidential memo from the SCSU lawyers. 

The union scheduled an emergency meeting on April 22 to continue discussions. However, the meeting was cancelled after the SCSU lawyers became unavailable. A new date was never set prior to April 30, the end date for the 2024–2025 Board’s contracts.

On April 30, SCSU Executive Director Sarah Abdillahi wrote to the Board that they were planning an emergency BOD meeting after this date. 

In messages obtained by The Varsity, Abdillahi wrote in a WhatsApp group chat with the Board that “Contracts can be extended past a certain date because of extenuating circumstances.” 

Abdillahi wrote that the Board is technically “breaking the bylaws” by staying in office past April 30 and must confirm with the SCSU lawyers whether they can remain in office until an emergency meeting is called.

“The expectation is that if [SCSU VP Operations Jena Bah] and I do not receive a formal resignation letter today that you are expected to stay in your positions until we get an update from the lawyers about an emergency meeting.” 

“Threatening my prior commitments”

Mousa sent his resignation on April 16 to officially end his term on April 30. In an email to The Varsity, Mousa wrote that “We were waiting for a response from the lawyers in terms of the next steps after the failed ratification vote, but the [meeting] continues to be delayed… The reason I’m officially resigning is because these delays are threatening my prior commitments.” 

“My resignation is not one out of discontent, but out of necessity,” wrote Mousa. “While the situation is unfortunate, I believe that as long as the SCSU team has the students’ best interests in mind, then the work will continue in the right direction.”

The Varsity was unable to confirm if other members of the board resigned. 

Next steps 

On May 1, the SCSU issued a statement on Instagram outlining the Spring elections and next steps. The SCSU wrote that, following the failed ratification vote, “the SCSU sought legal counsel to assess the Board’s authority in this matter.” 

“Legal counsel clarified that, according to SCSU Bylaws, the Board does not possess the authority to unilaterally reject the results of a duly conducted election.” 

The statement also noted that during the April BOD meeting, “the Board deferred making any decisions” due to time constraints and the late arrival of a legal memo. 

“The purpose of this statement is to inform our members that the duly elected individuals will not begin their terms on May 1st as originally intended,” wrote the union. “Their appointments remain pending until the [BOD] makes a final decision at an upcoming Emergency Board meeting, following any legal recommendations.” 

The statement summarized concerns brought forward by the Board, including committee appointments and hiring timelines, elections procedures and timelines, staffing, and ballot counting. These concerns were brought forward to The Varsity before the board discussed them. 

“As of this statement, the SCSU awaits further guidance from legal counsel and will reconvene once the revised legal memoranda is received,” wrote the union. “The SCSU affirms its commitments to transparency and will continue to keep its membership informed of all developments.” 

The SCSU did not respond to The Varsity’s request for comment in time for publication.