PRIDE!Kent’s executive board lost two members this week, and PRIDE!Kent general membership is dropping.

Craig Snell, PRIDE!Kent secretary, and Carrie Wicks, PRIDE!Kent programming chair, resigned due to academic obligations and time constraints.

The resignations come after disappointing attendance at PRIDE!Kent’s coming out week activities.

“First we need to fix the board, then we need to fix membership,” Amanda Boyd, PRIDE!Kent president, said. “This organization was started in 1976 and to see membership piddle down in a matter of weeks sucks.”

Boyd compared the number of people at last night’s PRIDE!Kent meeting, nine members, to the low attendance at recent guest speaker events featuring syndicated columnist Dan Savage and Andrew Hyde of “The Amazing Race 3.”

“We were able to get Margaret Cho here before because of our strong membership,” Boyd said. “She drew hundreds of people.”

PRIDE!Kent leaders and members said attendance may be dwindling because of poor advertisement and promotion, partially connected to the recent string of rainy days that prevent informative campus chalkings.

However, the low attendance hasn’t been entirely disappointing.

“I really enjoyed Dan Savage because it was more of an intimate setting,” freshman exploratory major Katherine Rybski said.

Elections for PRIDE!Kent’s open board positions will be held in two weeks. Applicants are encouraged to bring credentials and be prepared to give an impromptu speech.

The secretary position is responsible for recording the minutes at regular meetings. The programming chair position plans the organization’s activities, such as coming out week and PRIDE!Kent’s prom.

Contact minority affairs reporter David Yochum at [email protected].