Two student-led petitions are circulating, calling for the resignation of AMS President Jana Amer. One petition calls specifically for Amer’s resignation, while another demands the resignation of the entire AMS executive team.
A review of Amer’s credit card spending found that out of $27,225.50 charged on the card since the start of the term, Amer repaid $640.70 after she couldn’t provide receipts for certain transactions. Including $377.32 that were identified as personal expenses. Following the review, the AMS revoked Amer’s corporate credit card and set her spending limit to zero.
The news has prompted debate across campus and online, with some students arguing the situation warrants immediate resignation and others saying the AMS’s internal processes should be allowed to run their course.
Sam Moravej, ArtSci ’27, said he started one of the petitions after seeing the news circulate on social media. Moravej launched the petition on Jan. 31, which has received 116 signatures as of publication.
“I first saw the story on Instagram, and I thought it was super shocking,” he said.
Moravej is a vice-president in the Queen’s International Affairs Association and has been involved in Model UN and Queen’s Model Parliament. He said his involvement in student organizations made the situation feel more personal, as many clubs rely on the AMS for funding approvals and financial administration.
“A lot of our clubs and our finances are controlled by the AMS,” he said. “As soon as I saw the personal charges and all that, I was really upset.”
His petition calls specifically for Amer’s resignation. Moravej said he chose a petition because he sees it as an accessible and familiar way for students to express collective concern. Even though, according to a statement from the AMS to The Journal, petitions themselves don’t carry formal authority within AMS governance.
“I’m trying to get this out to as many people as possible,” he said.
A separate petition, started by another student identified on the petition as Fae M, was also launched on Jan. 31 and has garnered 35 signatures as of publication. That petition calls for the resignation of not only the president, but also both Elena Nurzynski, Vice-President (Operations) and Alyssa Perisa, Vice-President (University Affairs). That petition frames the issue as a broader failure of leadership.
The AMS’s statement to The Journal said they’re aware of the petition and understand it reflects concerns from some students. They emphasized that any action regarding the president must follow constitutional procedures to ensure fairness, due process, and institutional integrity. Moravej said that, for him, the core issue is accountability in a high-profile student leadership role.
“If you use your corporate credit card on something personal, you should be getting fired,” he said. “If not worse.”
He also criticized what he viewed as a lack of responsibility in public responses so far.
“I think it was just a whole bunch of blaming and deferring blame,” he said. “It was a whole bunch of not taking accountability.”
Some students have argued under the posts that the controversy is being exaggerated, particularly given the relatively small dollar amounts reported. Moravej rejected that framing.
“If we can inform the students that probably wouldn’t know about this otherwise, and that isn’t on Reddit, I think that is a job well done,” he said.
According to their statement, the AMS constitution outlines two formal mechanisms for removing a sitting president: a vote of non-confidence by AMS Assembly, or an impeachment referendum initiated by the student body.
A non-confidence motion requires at least two weeks’ written notice and approval by a two-thirds majority of Assembly members. An impeachment referendum requires signatures from 10 per cent of AMS members and must be conducted in accordance with AMS election policy.
The AMS also noted that Assembly may pass non-binding motions calling on the president to resign, which formally record Assembly’s position but don’t remove an executive from office.
They added that they haven’t received any formal resignation requests through official governance or administrative channels.
Tags
AMS credit card, AMS president, Impeachment, resignation
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