Student Body President Ben Meyers announced Thursday that he will be resigning from his position due to personal reasons.
Student Body Vice President Anthony Reynolds will be taking his place as the executive leader of Student Government.
"It was not an easy decision to make, especially considering I'd worked hard for the job for a very, very long time," Meyers said. "It's been an extremely rewarding experience and the honor of my lifetime."
With his resignation, Meyers will also be forfeiting his seat on the UF Board of Trustees.
Meyers, a member of the Unite Party, previously served as a senator for the sophomore class, a senator for the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the Student Senate Allocations Committee chairman and Student Senate president. He will graduate in the spring with a degree in food and resource economics.
Meyers said he will still be involved on campus in the future and will help Reynolds make the transition into his role as Student Body President.
"Anthony is an experienced and capable leader who has my full confidence," Meyers said in a letter sent to SG officials and the Board of Trustees. "Having him as my successor makes this decision easier."
Reynolds, who served as a director with Students Taking Action Against Racism and as an SG Cabinet chairman, said he is first and foremost sad to see Meyers, who is a close friend, leave office, but that he is ready to take the position.
"At the end of day I had no intention of being Student Body President," Reynolds said. "I didn't run for Student Body President. Now that I find myself in the role, regardless of my feelings before, I want to do the very best job that I can."
Reynolds said he will take his role as the voice of the students seriously and wants to hear directly from them their concerns and desires.
Students Party Sen. Carly Wilson, a friend of Meyers, said the announcement came as a shock to her and the rest of her party.
"We rarely agreed with him in the political sense, but we hope everything works out OK for him," she said. "We're all Gators, and we wish him the best."
Then Student Body President Ben Meyers announced that he would be resigning from his position for personal reasons in October 2011.
