Students launch sit-in after failing to oust student gov prez
Protesters have occupied the Texas State University student center since Wednesday, demanding that administrators oust the student body president who escaped impeachment.
The demonstrators began protesting after the Student Government Senate and the Graduate House of Representatives failed to meet quorum for impeachment of controversial Student Government President Connor Clegg.
[RELATED: Student op-ed calls white people ‘an abomination’]
According to multiple videos posted on social media this week, the activists occupied the LBJ Student Center, calling for the administration to meet their demands and remove Clegg from his leadership position.
Texas State Students have now been occupying the LBJ Student Center for 40 hours #TXSTSITIN #TXST pic.twitter.com/GVSVfgTsC2
— Kirby Glass (@KirbytheMermaid) April 13, 2018
Demonstrators also appeared to clash with law enforcement officials who were escorting student senators out of a parking garage.
Students on 1st floor of Matthew Street Parking Garage. #TXSTSitIn pic.twitter.com/safI7OPPDj
— Brittlin Richardson (@brittlin_r) April 12, 2018
According to the Austin American-Statesman, Clegg was heavily criticised for his call to de-fund the student newspaper after it published a controversial op-ed telling “white people” that “your DNA is an abomination.”
Clegg was also condemned for publishing several controversial Instagram posts, some of which dated back to 2014.
[RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Student gov impeaches student for conservative views]
In late February, the Student Government Supreme Court at Texas State unanimously ruled against Clegg’s impeachment, finding the student leader not guilty on all six articles presented to the chamber, The University Star reported.
Dean of Students Margarita Arellano, however, overturned the ruling on March 28, arguing that she has sufficient evidence for Clegg’s impeachment.
On Wednesday, 19 senators reportedly skipped the impeachment hearing, ensuring that the student government did not have enough members to hold a vote on the resolution.
[RELATED: Columbia newspaper refuses to publish conservative student’s op-ed]
“The sit-in ends when [University President] Denise Trauth, and the administration publicly denounces Connor Clegg’s actions, the actions of the student senators, and [when] there is an apology issued for the lack of justice and the lack of system and representation to support that justice,” one protester told The University Star in a video interview.
“There was not an avenue to hold him accountable for being racist and to hold him accountable for being like dangerous and aweful and intolerant,” the protester added.
UPDATE: In a statement to Campus Reform, Texas State President Denise Trauth acknowledged that “many members of our university community, including myself, find this non-attendance [of student senators] wrong, as it undermines the integrity of our student government processes.”
To that end, she encouraged student government to undertake a review of its procedures, and also look into how it can “hold its members accountable for their actions.”
Trauth did not, however, indicate that the university will take any action to oust Clegg or pressure the student government to support the impeachment.
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