Miller Hoffman: impeachment motion not racially motivated pic.twitter.com/cOFS5kkBY4
— Georgie Silvarole (@gsilvarole) October 24, 2017
The student government at Clemson University is currently gearing up to hold an impeachment trial for its vice president, Jaren Stewart, over allegations of misconduct stemming from his time as a resident assistant in one of the school’s dormitories. The decision to hold a trial was made after a vote and meeting — which Stewart and many others in the student government executive branch were not in attendance for — held by the student government. Prior to the allegations about Stewart, who is black, leaking to a right-wing blog, he sat during the Pledge of Allegiance during a student senate meeting to pay respect to protesting NFL players.
At a meeting on September 25, several student senators as well as Stewart refused to stand for the Pledge, yet Stewart is the only one currently facing consequences. However, according to student senator Miller Hoffman, the impeachment procedure is not racially motivated at all.
“I cannot stress enough how the situation has absolutely nothing to do with the flag protests or contain any racial motivation at all,” Hoffman said. “Such a narrative is without evidence and completely untrue.”
According to a leaked incident report published by a far-right website — which refers to Stewart as a “liberal agitator” and bemoans the rampant “PC culture” at the school — from the community director at Clemson, Stewart was accused of inappropriately entering a dorm room without permission, taking food, and intimidating one of its residents who voted against a measure he supported in the student government in April 2017. According to the Clemson student newspaper, a school spokesperson, Assistant Director of Strategic Communications John Gouch, was unable to confirm or deny the validity of the incident report.
Incidentally, Clemson is a public university and subject to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act at the federal level and a similar law at the state level. Conduct reports are covered by these laws, which means that whoever leaked the report, if it is legitimate, could face a fine and criminal charges.
(Via Independent Mail, The Tiger, & FindLaw)