Texas State Students Call For Impeachment Of Student Body President

A Texas State organization called The Pan African Council or PAAC, organized the protest via their Twitter account this week as a response to the Texas State Student Government announcing a public forum held Monday in wake of the events with Clegg.

By, Undria Wilson

On Monday evening, a group of Texas State students gathered at the Stallions station demanding the impeachment of Student Body President, Connor Clegg.

Clegg, who is the midst of a fiery storm, went viral on Facebook after photos of a trip he took abroad appeared to have racist hashtags making fun of the unsuspecting people. The hashtags #asianfellows #pearlharborwasbad #kimjongil were aimed at the ethnicity of the people in the photo, alluding that Clegg was intentional in his actions.    

A Texas State organization called The Pan African Council or PAAC, organized the protest via

their Twitter account this week as a response to the Texas State Student Government announcing a public forum held Monday in wake of the events with Clegg.

Students such as Makia Golliday created posters and signs encouraging diversity and calling for the administration to take stronger steps to ensure that racism is not tolerated on the campus.

“We want to bright light on the racial injustices on this campus,” Golliday said. “Although we are a minority serving institution, a lot of times we are underrepresented and underappreciated. (They) like to sweep things under the rug when it comes to other races doing things and to be honest, it hurts me and a lot of other people to see this because we pay our money just like everyone else.”

For the past year, there have been several incidents inciting racial tension on campus. Incidents of racial tension on campus have increased since the election of Donald Trump. Racist paraphernalia were posted around popular places where students congregate on campus, such as Alkek library.

Texas State University’s President Denise Trauth addressed the matters primarily through student emails, with some students expressing disappointment and anger at the actions of the administration.

Last November, an article titled “Your DNA is An Abomination” was written and published in the University Star, Texas State’s student-run newspaper.

The author of the article was publicly condemned by President Trauth in an email sent to the student body and received death threats from unknown individuals.

The immediate removal of the article, the public condemnation from the university’s president and Clegg, who called for the immediate de-funding of the student-run publication has created a snowball effect to the topic of how racism is handled by Texas State’s administration. 

The judgement of Clegg has led others to believe that he received a pat on the back after he issued an apology to the campus earlier this week. Other students, like Yunuen Alvarado, feel that it would be Clegg’s job to resign to support the notion of a diverse and inclusive campus.

“He does have a history of being racist as well,” Alvarado said. “A good example would be last semester when he did this cruel speech on why it was impossible to bring an immigration attorney to campus which the Attorney for Students at Texas State does not agree with. So, he is clearly xenophobic, he does not represent all students, he does not represent me as a student and we are tired of having to beg student government to look out for our basic human rights.”

Immediately following the discovery of Clegg’s social media posts, President Trauth sent out emails addressing the incident and Clegg’s remorse for his actions.

“Honestly, I would like to see more served than him just giving a public apology,” said senior, Varessi Fuentes. “As far as what that may entail, I don’t think he should lose his job, but I do think there should be more of a reprimand for his actions than what he got. Some of the students here explained that his apology really seemed a little bit insincere and factitious, so it seems that the community here would like a little more sincerity from him and a little bit more action from the university that we pay money to.”

Should Clegg be punished for his actions?

Additional Video: Students Reactions to “Your DNA is an Abomination.”