Aaron Bailey, one of three student members on UBC’s Board of Governors, has stepped down from his position to pursue a new job in San Francisco. His resignation became effective following the February 14 general meeting of the Board.
Along with Veronica Knott (the other Vancouver campus representative, currently serving her second term) and Terry Zhang (the Okanagan campus representative), Bailey served on the Board since his election in April 2016 to represent the student voice and the best interests of the university. Since then, the Board has seen continued debate over the Sustainable Future Fund, the drafting of a sexual assault policy for UBC and many other issues.
“It’s not everyday that you get the opportunity to take a 12-month crash course in governance policy, endowment finance, managerial accounting, actuarial science, political science and property development all at once,” wrote Bailey in a public Facebook note on his resignation. “I consider myself extremely lucky for both the chance to learn quickly and to put that learning to use on behalf of all 60,000-odd UBC students.”
Before serving this year on the Board, Bailey was AMS President during the 2015/16 school year, and before that, served within student government for a previous three years.
He will be taking a job as the head of business development at Iris Automation, a start-up company founded by two UBC engineering alumni that develops collision avoidance systems for drones.
Bailey will also be resigning from his position with UBC Athletics & Recreation, effective Friday.
There was no discussion at yesterday’s Board meeting as to whether Bailey will be replaced before the new set of student representatives are elected March 10.
Aaron Bailey could not be reached for comment in time for publishing. This article will be updated as more information becomes available.