After a summer serving as Iowa State’s 70th student body president, Emily Roberts resigned and transferred universities. Student Government released a statement weeks before the start of the fall semester, which included one sentence pertaining to the resignation, indicating Roberts “resigned from the position.”
The Daily received a statement from Roberts regarding her resignation, but it was later retracted.
At the start of the fall semester, Roberts’ LinkedIn profile listed her as a master’s student in energy engineering at the University of North Dakota. Her LinkedIn profile has since been deleted.
Roberts became the first Iowa State Student Government president to resign in 41 years and the fourth since the office was created in 1958.
Inconsistent North Dakota status
The Daily was unable to confirm Roberts’ graduate status in energy engineering at North Dakota through its registrar’s office. Roberts is an undergraduate student at North Dakota majoring in chemical engineering, which the Daily confirmed through matching information between Iowa State and North Dakota’s office of the registrar.
Before her sudden exit from office and the university, Roberts was a senior studying chemical engineering. According to records provided by the Iowa State Office of the Registrar, Roberts did not exit Iowa State University with a degree and was slated to graduate after the 2024 summer semester.
However, the 69th Iowa State Student Government President, Jacob Ludwig, said Roberts told him she was in a 4+1 program at Iowa State to earn an undergraduate and graduate degree in five years, but Ludwig said he had not verified that status.
Absent response
Roberts’ resignation came just months after running for and winning the position. Aside from the single sentence in the release, the reasoning for the resignation has not been publicly addressed by Student Government. The Daily has offered advisers, senators and current and former executive officers multiple opportunities to comment.
Student Government adviser Sophia Sarver stated in an email response to the Daily immediately following the Aug. 7 news release that the resignation was for “personal reasons.” When asked for comment for this article, Sarver said the release and prior response addressed the matter.
During the first senate meeting of the fall semester, Student Government President Jennifer Holliday did not mention her running mate by name or the word “resignation.”
“Over the summer, a vacancy arose in the position of president of the student body,” Holliday said on Aug. 23. “This is something that was unexpected.”
Holliday declined to comment regarding the resignation. Roberts’ chief of staff, Anna Hackbarth, now Speaker of the Senate and senior in electrical engineering, also declined to comment.
Graduate and Professional Student Senate Vice President Eddie Mahoney, a graduate student in computer science, endorsed the Roberts-Holliday campaign last spring and said in an interview with the Daily, “it sucked that Emily felt she needed to resign for personal reasons.”
“I knew at the end of the day, that was her decision, and I knew Jennifer was going to do a great job as president, and so far, she has,” Mahoney said.
Regarding the resignation, Ludwig, who served prior to Roberts being sworn in and endorsed her campaign, said, “I don’t think the full story is something that needs to be put in the public eye at this time.”
“A transition like this is complicated and dragging it out in front of everyone isn’t fair to a number of people involved,” Ludwig said.
Ludwig said he was unaware of Roberts’ transfer until he was asked for comment about this article in September and that he was “surprised” and “had no idea that was coming.”
“Given what happened and her exiting both Student Government and Iowa State, I thought it was strange that she had transferred to UND,” Ludwig said. “I wouldn’t have expected that and I was definitely caught off guard.”
The previous two Student Government presidential resignations in 1967 and 1982 addressed the reasoning behind their resignations shortly after doing so at events run or sponsored by the Student Government. Those presidents faced impeachment proceedings for breaking the law, among other things, which has not been indicated to the Daily by any member of the Senate in Roberts’ case.
Roberts’ summer presence and scholarship
Citing personal finance privacy concerns and the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, the university denied multiple records requests to prove or disprove whether Roberts received a scholarship for temporarily serving in the role.
The Daily has been unable to verify when Roberts decided not to return to Iowa State and if the timing impacted her absence at the Board of Regents meeting in June during discussion on 2023-24 tuition increases. Iowa State Student Government then-Vice President Holliday attended instead and, according to meeting minutes, became the first Iowa State Student Government vice president since 2004 to make a formal appearance at a Board of Regents meeting without the president.
Inquiring via public records requests and through the chief officers of Student Government, the Daily could not confirm if Roberts accepted the $2,000 summer scholarship or the $5,350 fall semester scholarship corresponding with the position. University administration denied two requests for such information, citing Iowa Code 22.7(1) as preventing the release of such information.
The Student Government Bylaws stipulate that the president will be eligible to receive the scholarship for that semester if they reside in Story County during that time. If the president fails to complete the number of credit hours, they must make restitution for the difference between tuition paid and tuition for which credits were earned.
Whether Roberts’ summer residence was in Story County or North Dakota has not been confirmed by the Daily, as well as the completion of credits during the summer.
