Austin,TX — SAN MARCOS, Texas -- A second impeachment hearing at Texas State University on Monday is expected to be quite a showdown as students calling for the removal of Student Body President Connor Clegg try to convince Senators for a second time.
This entire debate traces back to November.
The "University Star," Texas State's student-run newspaper, published an opinion article titled "Your DNA is an abomination." The article received massive backlash from readers, who said the writer expressed racist ideals.
University President Denise Trauth released a statement calling the article "abhorrent." Clegg also released a statement condemning the article and asking for the resignation of the author.
"The University Star has proven through this racist article that they no longer align with our core values as a university. It is imperative that we take necessary measure to ensure that tuition dollars do not go to fund this behavior," said Clegg.
In response to his call to potentially defund the paper, the schools "Pan African Action Committee" posted their own statement calling for Clegg's impeachment.
That call that grew louder in February of this year when posters pulled old social media posts from Clegg. Students calling for his impeachment say last year and in 2014 he posted images and comments that were racist. University President Denise Trauth also called the images offensive, though she accepted an apology from Clegg.
In March, Clegg was tried by the Student Supreme Court, who decided not to move forward with any impeachment.
Dean of Students Margarita Arellano overruled that decision, stating that "there is sufficient evidence...to warrant an order for an impeachment trial."
That trial was supposed to have happened on Wednesday, but 19 senators never showed up, forcing the meeting to be rescheduled and leading dozens of students to hold a sit-in at the student center in protest.
"We are protesting injustices that have been put upon marginalized students at Texas State," senior Claudia Gasponi said.
Monday night a rescheduled impeachment hearing for Clegg is set to happen and KVUE spoke with one of the senators who was absent last time.
Junior Madison McDonald said she was unable to make the meeting on Wednesday due to previous engagements but said she would be in attendance Monday. She expressed her concern that the last meeting had turned into more of a shouting match than a civil hearing and hoped students involved would remain civil.
"I love that they're protesting because I love the first amendment," McDonald said. "We're all blessed to have it here in America. I love that they're using it, I just wish that they'd do it in a more inclusive way and that the conversation would progress."
Clegg's term will expire on April 19, three days after the second hearing is scheduled.
The University had not responded to requests for comment by Monday evening.