President Murillo’s decision comes amid outrage over alleged racism and incendiary Instagram post.
Southwestern College President Kindred Murillo cancelled the Associated Student Organization’s annual election last week after learning about a fake Instagram post that made it appear a slate of black candidates was attempting to incite racial violence against their predominantly Latinx opponents.
The black candidate slate, known as Team Elite, denied any knowledge of the post, which called to “chop the heads off of the euro-centrist white supremacist mexicans of the campus,” and accused the predominantly Latinx slate, known as Team Green, of creating the post in attempt sway the election in their favor.
The election controversy is the latest eruption in a long history of black/Latinx tensions on campus. It bubbled over May 2 during a discipline hearing by the ASO’s election board on accusations of racist comments made by a Team Green member about Team Elite. Black students reacted with outrage after the board imposed a punishment on the Team Green VP of Public Relations candidate Dimitrius Loa that they felt was too lenient.
Black Student Union Faculty Advisor Trishana Norquist then revealed a packet of printed screenshots of the fake Instagram post. The post, which Norquist said “incited” violence, included a video of Team Elite’s protest over what they consider to be the election board’s inadequate handling of their complaints.
Norquist said she was so upset by the post that she stayed up the entire night prior worrying about someone coming to the May 2 hearing with a gun and shooting all black students.
“I requested that a police officer walk around this building because we don’t feel safe that you would promote something to where someone who is crazy with a gun will come in and attack my black students or attack me for representing [the Black Student Union],” she said. “How dare you put our lives in jeopardy. But a public apology is what you all think is necessary.”
BSU President Monte Clark publicly named four students affiliated with Team Green as potential creators of the Instagram post, based on his review of footage from the protest. With the district investigations still pending, The Sun chose to not reveal any student names.
Numerous members of both teams were in tears by the time Murillo arrived and called for an end to the hearing. The district has since launched two investigations. Murillo was vague when referring to the investigations. One dealt with “complaints filed on Board Policy and federal and state statutes, the other regarding Instagram Posts,” she said in an email.
A week of rising tension.
The tensions began during an emergency hearing on April 29 regarding Loa’s comments about Team Elite. Ayona Hudson, a presidential candidate for Team Elite, filed a complaint after two witnesses came to her and said they overheard Loa mocking the students for being an all black slate. Richard Eberheart, the student activities coordinator, said the emergency hearing was crucial because polls were open. But Student Trustee Rudolph Villegas and current ASO President Jorge Ivan Ortiz both said the meeting was illegal due to an agenda not being posted 24 hours prior. Two additional meetings following the April 29 hearing were postponed due to what Eberheart said was a series of complaints made by Villegas to Murillo, VP of Academic Affairs Angelica Suarez and Dean of Student Services Malia Flood.
On the afternoon of May 1, Team Elite gathered outside of the Student Center to protest the cancellation of the meetings. As Hudson paced across the cement platform with a microphone in hand, various Team Elite members held a protest sign that read: “Let my voice be heard!”
Hudson said black student voices were being ignored, and that this spoke to a deeper problem of institutional racism on campus. A few dozen students and faculty members formed around Hudson as she called for action against racism.
“I should be able to be comfortable on this campus, and I’m not,” Hudson said. “I’m not comfortable. I want you to feel how uncomfortable I am.”
Someone in the crowd recorded video of Hudson’s speech and used it as the backdrop of the fake Instagram post.
Murillo said she was sent screenshots of the post that evening, but wanted to abide by the student process of the Election Board hearing before she intervened. Murillo said she spent most of her Wednesday night trying to figure out who made the post, and said the issue with students reflects the racial tension seen among faculty, staff and administration.
Years of racial strife.
Racial tensions have increased on campus in recent years. In 2018, a report commissioned by Murillo found that among 50 campuses studied, SWC suffers from some of the worst anti-black racism. The team led by Dr. Shaun Harper, the executive director of USC’s Race and Equity Center, outlined a myriad of issues including a predominantly white staff that ignores racial tension between Latinx and black communities.
Among other things, the report found that qualified black employees are passed up for jobs against lesser-qualified Latinx faculty members, often due to Latinx nepotism. It also found that Latinx employees have a strong camaraderie on campus and they look out for one another. Black classified employees said those with the “strongest sense of belonging and inclusion” were Latinx employees.
“A college with racial problems as pervasive as Southwestern’s cannot afford to sustain an environment where its employees talk around race, only to discuss it with others in their respective racial/ethnic groups, or abstain all together from conversations about race,” the report stated.
A series of meetings were held last year to address the report, including a public town hall on October 16 2018 where Norquist and Hudson spoke out against the racism on campus separately.
At the town hall meeting, Norquist said she had experienced four acts of racism in the two years she had worked on campus, all by different aggressors. She asked how administration is intending to reach out to those who need to hear this dialogue the most and were not at the meeting.
“How am I supposed to feel comfortable to stay,” she questioned. “How am I supposed to feel comfortable to continue to teach my students, to mentor my students? What are we doing?”
Crime and (no) punishment?
In the aftermath of the report, Murillo said administration is still working hard to resolve the racial tension on campus. But, she said, improving relations will require a cultural shift, which at Southwestern, will take five to seven years.
The lack of progress was on display at the May 2 meeting when the Election Board revealed Loa would not be disqualified from the election and his punishment consisted of completing an implicit bias training and facilitating a retreat on race relations.
Team Elite and affiliates erupted at the news and said this was an injustice typical of SWC. “Are you proud of failing us,” Hudson questioned. “This is a fucking joke.”
Students argued across the table as the mediators begun to lose control of the room. It was at this time that Murillo stormed in and announced the hearing was over and to respect the decision made by the Election Board regarding Loa. She also said all allegations throughout the election would now be passed off to a third-party investigation team.
Team Elite stood and exited the room together, leaving an empty row of chairs pushed in at the table.
Two investigations filed.
Later, Murillo sent an email to all faculty and staff via her “Things to Know” email saying student elections were cancelled and reminded readers to not let faculty/staff agendas or opinions affect the students. Her first email was sent on the night of May 2 to select students and faculty and she followed-up with a campus-wide email on the morning of May 3.
“This is not, and should not be, an opportunity for college employees and community members to play out their agendas and emotions,” Murillo wrote in one her emails. “Our students look to us for guidance and as role models. As a college community, we are working hard to build a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion.”
Team Elite said in a statement to The Sun they support the election being declared void.
“Elections were supposed to be a fun, competitive, and light hearted ordeal,” Team Elite’s statement reads. “However, elections have caused nothing but tears, fear, and an overwhelming feeling of anxiety for us. It is unfortunate we have learned that this is the norm for anyone who is Black and running for ASO office. We feel that having the elections voided is what was best because of the trajectory that the campaign season has gone toward. At some point, we must put our foot down.”
Team Green agreed to meet with The Sun May 3 for an interview and five team members, along with Villegas, showed up. After a 45-minute conversation, they decided to not go on record and submitted a joint statement the morning of May 6.
Their statement reads that they are “deeply saddened” by the interference of faculty, staff and administration in student elections. Faculty interfered and slandered students en masse, which, they wrote, has caused them to be in an unsafe work environment.
Team Green’s statement also said Team Elite needs to work alongside them for student independence.
“We all as students must fight for the right to govern the services of our own students and have the power of recognition to validate our ASO General Elections,” the statement reads. “We call on Team Elite to join us in this fight. We the members of Team Green, members of various minority communities that have been affected by bigotry and racism, understand the concerns of our fellow students. Because of it we must stand together to deal with these issues and dispel any racist language, acts, and/or policies.”
Team Elite also denounced Team Green’s call for working together, and said their pain needs to be acknowledged.
“We don’t blame Team Green, we blame the environment that has allowed the mentality that it is okay to throw stones and then hide your hands,” their statement reads. “Team Elite is, yet again, just requesting that they show their hands and acknowledge what has been done to us. We just want to be acknowledged, not as a team, but as a community that is hurting. At the end of the day tit-for-tat helps no one, running away from this helps no one, and shifting blame helps no one. As our mentors have taught us: Team Elite wants to be the voice for the voiceless.”
Full statements from both teams can be found at theswcsun.com
Murillo said students reporting allegations to her forced her hand and the college takes this issue seriously.
“By coming to me the students invited me into the process, we did not intervene until the complaints came to us,” Murillo said. “As a college president, I honor and try to support students in their processes, free speech, and rights. This is supposed to be a developmental learning opportunity for our students, and when potential violations of Board Policy, federal and state statutes occur, on behalf of all students, faculty, staff, and administration, I have a duty to intervene. The physical, mental, and emotional safety of all college constituents is my highest priority.”
