By: Beverly Wakiaga
This past Monday, the Student Government Association, and Multicultural Student Council hosted the Our Voice, Your Quinnipiac event in order to raise awareness and discussion about the My Costume is Not a Culture campaign.
Many students got up and spoke about their experiences with culture and identity. Sophomore class president, Chris Montalvo, also got up and shared his background with students. He began his remarks by stating that he was there to stir the pot and then voiced how he disagreed with what the students before him had said.
Students of color who were at the event took offense to the claims that Montalvo made. Mainly, that he had dismissed the experiences of people of color, especially those that had spoken before him and that his speech made it seem as though their experiences would never change and that they should get over it.
Various students took their complaints to the SGA general board meeting on Wednesday and made their feelings on his statements known.
During a passionate debate, SGA members and various students went back and forth over what the problem was and whether what Montalvo said was worth impeachment. While this was going on, Montalvo sat quietly and listened to the different arguments. He later got up and apologized for causing offense and gave out his contacts so those affected could contact him and talk about the incident.
SGA decided not to impeach Montalvo but they passed a motion to censure him. A censure is a parliamentary procedure that expresses strong disapproval or harsh criticism.
It is not clear whether Montalvo will face the impeachment process at a later date. However, a different member of SGA will be facing the impeachment process in the next few weeks.
We will update you as we learn more.
