Race investigation keeps ASO in limbo

An investigation into charges of racial discrimination during the spring ASO election that led the college president to stop voting continues and is expected to run into November, but many of the students involved in the controversial election have appointed themselves to serve in a “coalition government” that is drafting its own constitution.

SC President Dr. Kindred Murillo said the investigation would run “for about two more months.” Murillo stopped the contentious ASO election process May 2 when she walked into a meeting of the candidates and ASO advisers that had devolved into a shouting match. Murillo’s directive abruptly ended the election.

Murillo said there were many reasons leading to her unprecedented decision to shut down the elections.

“Allegations of bias, allegations of discrimination, allegations of processes in the ASO constitution not being followed,” she said. “And once we substantiated those processes had not been followed, we felt that with the other allegations that we do not have confirmation on, we believed it was best to stop the elections.”

A contentious election season took on racial overtones as the all-African American slate that called itself Team Elite squared off with a mostly-Latino ticket that dubbed itself Team Green. Team Green was accused of a false flag attack on Team Elite by creating an Instagram post disguised as a Team Elite post that urged SC students to “chop the heads off of the euro-centrist white supremacist Mexicans of the campus.” Team Elite presidential candidate Ayona Hudson was pictured in the post.

Loa denied creating the post and said he did not know who did. Hudson said two witnesses brought her evidence that Loa had made racist comments about her and the African-American candidates. The matter is under investigation, according to Murillo. Loa, during an interview with The Sun this semester, denied charges that he had mocked Team Elite because it was composed entirely of African-Americans.

“This was blown out of proportion,” he said. “They should’ve pulled a meeting with the parties involved and take it from them. Bring the witnesses and find the truth. But no, we went to a conference room open camera lights action came in.”

Hudson filed a grievance with the ASO Election Board. At least three meetings of the board were scheduled and cancelled, she said. ASO officials blamed the cancellations on a provision of the Ralph M. Brown Public Meetings Act that requires government agencies to post meetings at least 72 hours in advance. Election board meetings were cancelled, the officials insisted, because they were posted less than 24 hours in advance, the minimum time for a meeting considered an emergency.

Hudson led a protest on May 1 and called for Loa’s disqualification from the elections for allegedly making racist remarks and creating a dangerous situation on campus for African-American students.

As polling began the week of April 29, rancor between the opposing tickets escalated. ASO advisers summoned all candidates to a meeting on May 2 attended by at least a dozen campus employees. The elections board declined Hudson’s request to ban Loa, instead suggesting he complete an implicit bias training and facilitate a retreat to discuss racial relations. Hudson said the decision was outrageous.

“Are you proud of failing us?” she said during the May 2 meeting. “This is a fucking joke!”

Murillo was summoned when the meeting grew argumentative and emotional. She announced she was cancelling the election.

Hudson said members of her slate supported Murillo’s decision.

“Team Elite is okay with the elections being cancelled because of the racism that we had to deal with during our campaign season,” she said.

Team Green published a dissenting statement.

“As members of Team Green, we are shocked in the recent actions taken by the Administration of Southwestern College to invalidate the ASO General Elections of the Spring 2019 semester,” read the statement.

During the summer Team Green presidential candidate Christian Sanchez approached Hudson with a proposal to set aside their differences and form a “coalition government.” Murillo said she supported the idea. Hudson and Sanchez asked SCEA faculty union president S. Rob Shaffer to mediate a series of meetings between members of the two slates of candidates.

Sanchez and Hudson announced the coalition government from the mainstage of the college’s employee opening day event in August. Faculty in attendance stood and applauded the act of conciliation, though many questioned the legality of appointing a government that was not elected by the student body. SC’s ASO Constitution has no provision for unelected executive officers or coalition governments.

Murillo consulted with lawyers that told her she had the power under to the California Education Code to allow students to form an interim coalition government. An opinion presented to Murillo by the AlvaradoSmith law firm sited a passage from section 76060 of the Ed. Code.

“[The] governing board of a community college district may authorize the students of a college to organize a student body association,” read the letter. “A community college district may assume responsibility for activities formerly conducted by a student body association if the student body association is dissolved.”

Section 76072 states that “the governing board of a community college district may authorize any organization composed entirely of students attending the colleges of the district to maintain activities, including fundraising activities, as may be approved by the governing board.”

Murillo said she had the power to dissolve the ASO and to permit a coalition government.

“Do we have authority to do this?” she said. “I think that’s the question and how would we do that? Because I’m the president of the college, because of board policy 5400, the ASO is required to follow their own constitution and by-laws and we already knew when we started the investigation that the bylaws and constitution had been violated by the 24-hour policy not being upheld, so that basically says that they weren’t following their constitution and bylaws, so then my rule is to make sure they’re doing that.”

The AlvaradoSmith law firm advisory supported Murillo’s action.

“Under the authority of California Code and the board is required to create policies and procedures which we have, and we noted in that policy 5400, that under that the board may authorize a student government organization and under that power I am designated to be able to issue the order that authorizes their ability to move forward, so that we can have a student voice, while we’re finalizing all this stuff,” said Murillo.

Hudson said the ultimate shape of the 2019-20 ASO depends on the findings of the investigation ordered by Murillo in May.

“So let’s just say hypothetically that the investigation results show that discrimination did happen,” she said. “Then we would not be using the previous election results. But let’s say that the investigation results show that discrimination did not happen…then we would be using last spring’s results. I think that’s fair.”

Hudson said plans are in place to give ASO positions to members of the coalition government, if the election is validated.

“The coalition, since we’re already working together, we have decided that the ASO officers, since we’re already putting so much work into this together, that let’s say I didn’t win the presidency or someone else didn’t win their respective positions, we’ll just drop down into senate,” she said.

Student Activities Coordinator Richard Eberheart concurred.

“What they decided (is) once the results are released, then the people that won their respective race then they would take that seat,” he said. “Then the person that didn’t win, then they would automatically become a senator in the ASO. They would still get to be a senator and participate in the ASO, maybe not necessarily in the position they initially ran for. They would just automatically be slotted into a senator position so they can still be part of the ASO. So that was sort of the compromise they all sort of came up with. That way nobody walks away with nothing.”

The ASO Constitution provision for the election of senators is in Article V, Section 1. It is a mechanism to fill vacancies by a special election conducted by the senate called In-House elections. Provision 1 is for vacancies to be “heavily published” during the first three weeks of each semester and for interested students to submit a nomination petition with 75 signatures. Students with enough valid signatures are eligible to be interviewed and confirmed by a committee of five students established and chaired by the executive vice president.