International Relations Council president resigns amid election controversy

Jackson said in an e-mail to The Daily Princetonian that her resignation comes in the wake of a contentious IRC presidential election in December, noting that growing tensions within the council made it difficult for her to fulfill her duties as president. Le Gall said in an e-mail that she was nominated by Trombley for the position of vice president after Jackson resigned, adding that she was unanimously approved by the IRC board last Saturday.

Jackson was prematurely declared the winner of the presidential race against Le Gall before absentee ballots were counted, former IRC treasurer Minh Nguyen-Dang ’09 said in an e-mail sent to IRC members on Dec. 8. Had all votes been accounted for, Nguyen-Dang explained, the result would have been different.

The IRC subsequently held a revote, which Jackson won.

“[Former IRC president] Emily [Norris ’09] and myself cared above all for a clear, indisputable result, and we all felt that the best way to achieve that was to hold a revote,” Nguyen-Dang said in an e-mail to the ‘Prince.’

Former IRC president Arjun Arora ’10 explained in an e-mail that this decision was made “to ensure that members of IRC were fully and equally enfranchised.”

Not all of the IRC members were satisfied with the election results, Jackson explained in her resignation e-mail to the IRC. “The circumstances of the elections have led to factional divisions and irreconcilable personal differences within IRC.”

Le Gall explained that because the election was close and some IRC members were “quite particular about their preference for who won the election, things were somewhat tense directly afterwards.” She noted, however, that she felt that since the elections were in early December, most of the tensions stemming from them had already dissipated.

“As to whether or not the elections affected ‘tensions,’ all I can say is that the election was very closely contested,” Nguyen-Dang said, “and that we were very fortunate to have two very strong candidates for president who both were, and I would imagine continue to be, very popular in the club.”

Jackson added that she felt no particular group is to blame for any tensions and divisiveness within the IRC, but she also noted that her resignation might help facilitate future cohesion within the club.

“I don’t doubt that [an] overwhelming majority of our members have only IRC’s best interests at heart, but the increased factionalism was something that all of us contributed to,” Jackson said.

Jackson noted that her resignation was strictly her own decision, despite rumors that may have suggested otherwise.

“IRC has a fairly intense rumor mill, which was a considerable influence on the factionalism that I’ve referred to,” Jackson explained. “I must state explicitly that both the initial consideration of resignation and my eventual decision to follow that course of action were entirely of my own accord.”

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Arora said that his reaction was one of “total shock” when Jackson told him of her intent to resign last Wednesday and asked if there was an established process for resigning.

“There’s not really any precedent for this,” Arora explained, “but I will say that Rachel appeared to have put a lot of thought into her decision, and I think that by doing this, she’s set an invaluable standard for personal integrity for future Presidents of IRC.”

Trombley, Nguyen-Dang and Le Gall also said that Jackson’s resignation came as a surprise to them. Trombley noted, however, that he felt some of the attention given to the elections and the division within the IRC may have been exaggerated.

He explained that his current attention is focused on running the Princeton Interactive Crisis Simulation conference, which will take place from Feb. 26 to March 1, and that he would look further into the future of the IRC after this.

Arora added that while IRC members are adjusting to “the shock of what’s happened,” they are also looking to move forward from this point.

“We want to focus on the work we do and IRC’s mission, and leave the politics behind us where they belong,” he said.