UMaine CRs apologize in advance for ‘Deck the Wall’ party

A College Republicans chapter at the University of Maine apologized for a “Deck the Wall” end-of-year party before it even happened after receiving complaints and “feedback.”

The Dec. 15 party, designed as an opportunity to engage the campus community in political discussion, received criticism from various members of the UMaine campus, leaving many confused as to the point of the event, according to a UMaine spokeswoman.

“After several people expressed concern that they didn’t understand the purpose of the event, University of Maine Student Life staff reached out to the organizers to give them this feedback,” UMaine spokeswoman Margaret Nagle told Campus Reform. “The group issued a clarification and the event went on as planned.”

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While it is unclear what clarifications were issued, the “Deck the Wall” event page description currently says:

“Please join us for our first annual Christmas Party! Half of the party will be on the Mexican-themed side of the Wall, and half will be on the American-themed side of the Wall.”

“As a generally overlooked party on campus, we look forward to generating political discussion on this pertinent topic in politics, and getting to talk about our view on all things political -- everyone is invited to come, partake in the festivities, and share their point of view!” the group concludes.

The College Republicans “were told by the administration that people had called the school complaining about the event, and that the school was going to issue a statement addressing those complaints,” former UMaine College Republicans President Matt Miller told Campus Reform.

“In the end, the party wasn’t shut down, despite all of the controversy, complaints, and talks of shutting it down and/or being forced to rename the party,” Miller continued. “I think that it just is awful what they put us through over something as harmless as a pro-Trump Christmas party.”

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Chad Honkonen, the current College Republicans president, issued an apology Friday via the group’s Twitter account, reported AP.

”Hey everyone, just want to clarify some things about our upcoming Christmas party tomorrow,” Honkonen said. “It has come to my attention that many people have taken issue with our decided theme of ‘Deck the Wall,’ and feel it’s unnecessarily inflammatory. I’d like to make clear that our goal is not to be so, and simply to generate political discourse on a very pertinent topic that many may not agree on.”

“My apologies if we’ve offended anyone by this, and I’d like to remind everyone that we 100% support all students on this campus, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, etc,” Honkonen assured.

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