Two senators resigned during the second installment of the “Senate on the Road” program in Thomas Hall on Wednesday.

Alex Boyd, a junior political science major who has been a member of the student government since his freshman year, said he resigned for personal reasons.

“I have been on the fence about this for quite sometime,” Boyd said. “It wasn’t as enjoyable as it had been in the past.”

Boyd said the main reason for his departure was he felt he needed to focus more on school and other aspects of his life.

He said he also was not happy with the direction in which student government has been going.

“I was a little upset about some of the way things were going,” Boyd said.

Boyd said he alerted Speaker of the Senate Zach Samples, a sophomore history major, to his resignation on Monday, as well as some of his close friends in the Senate.

Samples said he has no hard feelings between himself and the members who quit.

“They quit for necessary reasons,” Samples said. “It was a necessary thing for them.”

Alex Lais, a sophomore undecided major and co-chair of the University Development and Recycling Committee with Boyd, also resigned during the meeting, but said he has no hard feelings toward student government.

“Student government is moving along really well, they’re doing amazing things,” Lais said. “The progress the group will make will be unbelievable.”

Lais said the main reason for his resignation from the Student Senate was his involvement with other activities.

“It’s not fair to the organization if I’m not there giving my hundred percent all the time,” Lais said.

Lais said he was in the application process of other leadership opportunities.

“I’m going for different type of leadership positions throughout the campus and the community right now,” Lais said.

Samples said he will begin actively seeking new members within the next few days, but will give a strong focus to students who have previously applied for a Student Senate position, as well as non-Senate committee members.

Joe Sherman, a senior kinesiology major and Student Senate member said the resignations of Boyd and Lais caught him off guard.

“I definitely did not see it coming,” Sherman said. “I was a state of shock and confusion for the most part.”

Sherman said right now he is just trying to figure out what is going on, but he feels that these resignations will not negatively affect the student government.

“It’s definitely sad, but I don’t think it’s going to slow us down,” Sherman said.

Kathryn Richter can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].