Three members of the executive board of the College Democrats have resigned in the aftermath of a contentious Student Body President election,. These resignations follow an incident with the Black Student Action Association (BSAA) and a separate, unaddressed incident involving a member of the Petrella/Pal campaign team.
Christopher Walker served as the Campaign Strategist for the Petrella/Pal campaign. In this role, Walker served as a liaison between the campaign, multicultural organizations, and Greek life to facilitate communications between the groups.
The first pillar of the Petrella/Pal campaign focused on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives. A statement made by a member of the College Democrats executive board questioned the campaign’s commitment to this pillar after expressing doubt about the diversity of the campaign team. This individual also serves on Associated Student Government.
Walker was informed that in a meeting between the campaign and the executive board of the College Democrats, a member of the board stated that the diversity of the campaign team was skewed, labeling Walker as a “white-washed black person” due to his membership in an IFC-affiliated fraternity.
Walker explained that these types of comments are nothing new to him after growing up in a mostly white Catholic school as a Carribean-American. However, after hearing this comment, Walker was distraught, angry, and saddened.
“When people say my views on D&I are ‘white-washed’ it’s uncomfortable because yes, my background is primarily caucasian, but its also taught me a lot about how to communicate and bridge gaps between the groups,” Walker said.
Since the incident, no apology has been formally issued to Walker.
Walker explained that labeling people because of the organizations they affiliate with is a huge issue on Miami’s campus.
“It frustrates me to see that at Miami we’re supposed to be love and honor…but you have to be wary about what organizations you affiliate yourself with,” Walker said, referencing his fraternity membership.
Walker stated that every organization has some bad apples and this behavior may not reflect ASG and College Democrats as a whole. However, Walker also made clear that it is essential that organizations stop judging people and making assumptions based on their affiliations rather than their character.
The same week, the College Democrats faced additional heat after inappropriate remarks were made in a student body president endorsement meeting on March 10.
According to a statement made by the BSAA on March 12, a member of their organization “was unduly targeted and met with hostility from a number of individuals and organizations for speaking on the lack of communication between two of three current ASG SBP campaigns and the Black Student Action Association.”
The statement came after a member of BSAA informed the Dems that only one of three campaigns had communicated with the organization concerning their DEI platform. After sharing this, messages circulated a Dems group chat questioning the validity of such claims.
The Dems issued a formal statement apologizing for the incident on March 13, admitting their actions were “irresponsible”.
Since then, the President, Membership Director, and Treasurer of the College Democrats have all resigned.