The Student Body Vice President at Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas, is being threatened with impeachment after refusing to resign for posting the words “illegal aliens” on Facebook.
The university’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee — run by student government — is pledging to impeach Vice President Michaela Todd after taking offense to her Facebook post endorsing Kansas Republican gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobach.
In her post, Todd reiterated several of Kobach’s campaign promises, including one in which the candidate applied the same term that the United States government uses in federal statutes: illegal alien.
“Kris Kobach will: Put Kansas first, not illegal aliens,” read Todd’s now-deleted Facebook post, “The millions of dollars spent on public welfare for illegal aliens in Kansas hurts Kansas taxpayers every single day.”
The university’s Associated Student Government (ASG) reacted by demanding Todd resign from her position as Vice President by Monday, November 12, or else face impeachment proceedings.
“Vice President Todd’s decision to use the term ‘illegal alien’ dehumanizes people we strive to represent,” stated members of ASG’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee in an open letter demanding Todd’s resignation, “We, as a committee, believe no human is illegal.”
Please see the statement below from the ASG Diversity and Inclusion Committee. pic.twitter.com/dEBV2oOvXS
— ESU ASG (@EmporiaStateASG) November 10, 2018
The letter goes on to say that Todd could have used the term “undocumented” rather than “illegal,” adding, however, that even the term “undocumented” is dehumanizing, suggesting that the term’s usage could have also resulted in resignation demands by student government.
“We cannot tolerate hate, ignorance, and indifference by any student leaders,” added the committee.
“I was not aware of the negative connotations to some of the technical legal terms used in [Kobach’s] platform,” said Todd in a statement, “I sincerely apologize — it was never my intent to hurt anyone.”
“As a student [at Emporia State], I am extremely hurt and feel disgusted to represent a university who preaches diversity and inclusion until someone says something that doesn’t align with what they think,” student Mackenzie Haddix told Breitbart News, “You don’t have to agree with the term [Todd] used, but you do need to agree with her right to use the word — once that right is taken away by a student government, I lose my respect for the university.”
If Todd is removed from office, this will not be the first time a student is impeached for expressing viewpoints that are intellectually diverse from their counterparts in student government.
In April, the Committee of Diversity and Inclusion Chair at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Andrew Minik, was impeached for organizing a memorial wall for victims of illegal aliens, according to Campus Reform.
A week later, two students, along with Minik — who is also a student journalist — filed a lawsuit against the university for violating their First Amendment rights by telling them that they were not allowed to report on an incident in which an instructor had allegedly assaulted them at an anti-Trump rally on campus.
Emporia State University responded to Breitbart News’ request for comment with the following statement: “The university encouraged Associated Student Government to study the issue and determine appropriate next steps. Associated Student Government has resources at its disposal to make an informed decision, understand the ramifications of its actions, and plan a constructive path forward.”
Update — After this article was published, the university’s Associated Student Government released a statement announcing that, “For [ASG’s] own safety and wellbeing,” it has decided to rescind its decision to continue with Todd’s impeachment process, which had been scheduled for Thursday, November 15. “This was a very difficult decision to make on behalf of the committee and we do not want to make students feel that their voices were invalid.” Added the ASG.
Read the statement in full in the image below:
Emporia Statement
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo and on Instagram.
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