The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) Senate's 35th Congress saw its first resignation Tuesday at the body's second meeting.

Town Sen. Kwamena Entsuah resigned after he was not selected as the Senate's Student Services Committee (SSC) chair. Entsuah was the North Halls senator in the 34th Congress.

South Halls Sen. Ace Ekhtiarzadeh also announced he might resign but said he would decide over the summer before taking official action.

Ekhtiarzadeh said he wanted to concentrate on larger issues and form a new student organization to raise awareness about poverty issues.

The last congress had a total of 20 resignations throughout the year. The Senate consists of 27 members.

Pollock/Nittany Sen. Alex Ibrahim said he was surprised by the announcements.

"One of the big things we wanted to do was cut down on resignations, and everyone agreed on that -- and then to hear two senators want to resign, especially Kwam," Ibrahim said. "I thought he was a good guy. I heard he was a quality senator, and then I heard he resigned. I was kind of upset by that."

East Halls Sen. Kimberly Roth, who was selected as SSC chair, said she thought both Entsuah and Ekhtiarzadeh have been assets to the Senate. She added that she hopes the Senate will not experience a problem with resignations again.

"Last year was absolutely horrible with the number of resignations, but I think this year isn't going to be like last year. It's probably better that they've done it now. It gives us a chance to look for other people," Roth said.

Senate President Chris Owens said many senators, including Entsuah, met before the meeting to have an informal discussion about pertinent issues on campus.

"He was really enthusiastic about the year, and I don't know why he quit," Owens said.

Entsuah said the Senate is a "racist" organization, one reason for his resignation.

Entsuah said minority organizations requesting money from the Senate often wait longer for funding than nonminority organizations do. He added that there has not been a black USG president since 1988.

He said black people and white people have different perceptions of racism.

"It's a system. It's not a characteristic. It's not a trait of a person. It's a system that operates so that white people end up on top," Entsuah said.

Ekhtiarzadeh said he strongly disagrees with the notion that USG is a racist organization. He said USG has been working hard to foster diversity.

"I think the charge of racist is basically making a judgment of what's in somebody's heart, and they're so many people in USG," Ekhtiarzadeh said. "Getting called a racist is a horrible thing to me. I would hope that instead of taking that charge at its face value that students can evaluate the student leaders on this campus. As far as calling the student government racist, it's a blanket statement."

Entsuah also said he resigned partly because of the "favoritism" that exists within USG. He said USG President Galen Foulke unfairly selected his executive cabinet members by nominating people who worked on his campaign.

"It's extremely difficult to find motivated people who will be committed to the executive department, but when you have applications out for four days -- that's not adequate time to really have a fair and open election."

Eight cabinet members were approved at Tuesday's Senate meeting. Two said they had worked on Foulke's campaign after being asked by senators.

At the meeting, Foulke said he chose his cabinet members based on work ethic. He is still accepting applications for several cabinet positions, he said.

Entsuah said Foulke also endorsed several senators to put them in a position of power. Foulke endorsed Roth, who was selected as SSC chair, but did not endorse Entsuah.