Towers Residence Association President Joe Foster stepped down from his post Monday night to fill the vacant vice president’s position on the Inter-Residence Hall Association.

Foster, junior in pre-business, delivered an emotional good-bye at the TRA senate meeting, choking back tears during officer reports as he announced his resignation.

“I would like to take this opportunity to resign my post as TRA president, although I do it with a heavy heart,” he said. “Leaving was one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever made in my life.”

In his nearly 10-minute speech in the Wallace Hall conference room, Foster urged the TRA senate members to make student government a priority in their lives, not a stepping stone.

“All too often, I see apathy in students’ eyes and apathy in their voices,” he said. “But nothing will change unless you do it yourself.”

Foster also assured the senate he would fight for students’ rights while on IRHA.

“I’m going to go to IRHA and kick some ass for you guys,” he said. “I’m going to bring back some heads on a platter. We’re going to take this university back as our own.”

Foster will be replaced by former TRA Vice President Brian Cameron, sophomore in pre-business.

Kyle Jacobsen, IRHA finance director and member of IRHA’s vice president selection committee, said the committee picked Foster because he could work well with the current IRHA cabinet.

“We had a good group of candidates, and Joe wasn’t necessarily more qualified than anyone else,” said Jacobsen, junior in horticulture. “But the rest of [the executive cabinet] thought Joe would fit well into what we want to do. It was just the best fit to get the job done well.”

Jacobsen said three other students applied for the position.

A bill to seat Foster and a separate bill to seat the newly appointed IRHA director of information technologies, Jeremy Hayes, sophomore in pre-business, are scheduled for IRHA’s Thursday night meeting.

The IRHA vice president position opened earlier this semester when elected Vice President Brant Ausenhus, freshman in pre-architecture, resigned due to academic reasons.

Foster, who sat on IRHA parliament last year as TRA finance director, said one of the main reasons he took the position was so he could give student input on issues that will concern IRHA.

“I feel I can provide a valuable voice on numerous issues,” he said. “I just want to open up a line of communication between administration and students, not just student leaders.”

Foster also said his departure from TRA came a lot easier because of the trust he has in Cameron.

“I completely have faith in Brian’s leadership skills, and that made this a lot less hard to take,” he said.

Cameron will now step into the role of TRA president, while a new vice president will be approved by next Monday’s meeting, Foster said.