That Robbie McDonough has resigned as Student Senate chief of staff is not entirely a shock. What is surprising is the manner in which he has left.

McDonough’s resignation speech, released directly to The Daily Campus, reads like a symbol of everything that is wrong with Student Senate. Or perhaps McDonough himself is the symbol. He’s certainly been a mouthpiece, and an enthusiastic one, for the administration he now claims to abhor.

His diatribe, which paints a picture of shattered personal dreams and untrustworthy Senate leadership, does less to damage the reputation of Senate than solidify McDonough’s already controversial image.

Professionalism is the issue here, and McDonough’s words utterly lack it. As a leader of Senate, appointed or not, McDonough bears responsibility for what he is now attempting to attack. He claims to have acted out of personal conviction, but conviction should have led to the courage necessary to use his position to affect the goals he now eulogizes. Instead he has quit, tail between his legs and a snarl upon his lips. How does this help anyone?

If his hopes for Senate were truly so unachievable, why did he not act until now? And why depart with such an impertinent and scathing proclamation? Change comes from level heads and calm words, not passionate manifestos that sacrifice persuasiveness for visceral impact.

McDonough was an omnipresent facet of Senate proceedings, and an energetic behind-the-scenes campus politico. For him to claim to have been able to “do almost nothing but show up” would be all but laughable were the tone of his speech not so tragic.

If he is attempting to separate himself from the Odham administration in hopes of running in the upcoming Senate elections as a reformist-style outsider, he couldn’t have set himself up worse. Whining is not a rallying cry that typically leads to electoral achievement. A reformist who was in a position to push reform but didn’t is hardly an inspiration.

And if he has another goal in mind, his motivation couldn’t be less clear.

In defending Senate’s decision last fall to not release results of the tainted election for first-year officers, McDonough wrote a column asking why The Daily Campus sought to embarrass “little Sammy” and other students seeking elected office by publishing how poorly they had fared.

By resigning in the manner he did, McDonough has embarrassed not the Student Senate, but himself. He’s become his own little Sammy. And little Sammy will not be missed.