Oklahoma State University students speak out about staff member who reprimanded student for TPUSA hat
Multiple students have come forward with allegations that a staff member targeted conservatives through her position as a student government coordinator.
The coordinator was recently exposed for reprimanding a student who eulogized Charlie Kirk while wearing a Trump hat during a student government meeting.
A university staff member is under fire once again after recently being exposed for harassing a conservative student on campus.
Melisa Echols, who serves as coordinator of student government programs at Oklahoma State University, recently scolded a conservative member of the legislative body for paying tribute to Charlie Kirk and wearing a Turning Point USA-issued Trump hat during one of the group’s meetings.
Now, Echols is once again under fire after multiple former students have come forward with allegations of their own pertaining to her mistreatment of conservative students.
Ashley Peterson, one former student, told the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs that “[i]t is not at all surprising” that Echols reprimanded the student.
“Melisa Echols regularly demonstrated that conservative ideology was not welcome in the SGA at Oklahoma State,” Peterson said. “I regularly felt criticized and sidelined because of my conservative views, even during my time as the student body president.”
Peterson also claimed that Echols attempted to thwart her bid for student body president by disqualifying her on a technicality, namely, not turning in a budget on time due to a school Wi-Fi failure, despite receiving 66% of the vote. This claim was dismissed following an appeal to the student government court.
She also noted that other candidates were successfully disqualified on the grounds of similar technicalities.
Another student, Amanda Botts, served on student government and alleged that Echols showed bias against conservative student organizations.
[RELATED: UC Davis law school suspends student govt for ‘discriminatory’ pro-BDS resolution]
When the fledgling Turning Point USA chapter sought official recognition as a student association from the body, Botts said that the group’s members were bombarded with “crazy questions” and that their application was denied because of an alleged “clerical error.”
Groups were typically approved with a unanimous vote, according to Botts, who believes that Echols’ influence as the student government coordinator played a role in the abnormal rejection in the case of the TPUSA chapter.
“If any student believes their right to free expression has been infringed upon, threatened or restricted in any way, we encourage them to share those concerns directly with Student Affairs Division leadership and/or university leadership,” the school said in a statement to the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs.
“Our students’ voices matter and their rights will be protected,” the statement continued. “We expect every student to be afforded the opportunity to participate fully in our democratic student government without restriction or intimidation and have directly addressed those expectations with SGA support staff.”
All relevant parties have been contacted for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
