ASHMC Issues Recall Vote Amidst Allegations of Racism and Transphobia

President-elect faces removal after Executive Board unanimously approved petition for recall vote.

Credit: Violet Ramanathan '27

On Tuesday, March 10, Harvey Mudd College students received an email to vote on whether to recall the president-elect of the Associated Students of Harvey Mudd College (ASHMC) following a petition alleging racism and transphobia. 

The petitioner, who lost the ASHMC presidential election in both of the last two years, based his complaint on a comment made by the president-elect a year earlier. In a conversation with her friend regarding last year’s ASHMC president election — in which the petitioner was running — this year’s president-elect remarked: “would you rather vote for a president who’s qualified or Black?” In an interview with The Forum, the president-elect confirmed that she made this statement.

In February, the president-elect — who was president of Drinkward Dorm at the time — reached out to the petitioner and his running mate via email to apologize and initiate a meeting to talk further. At this meeting, in an attempt to explain the rationale behind her comment, the president-elect asked if the petitioner would have been offended if the comment had referred to someone trans rather than someone Black, according to a statement made by the petitioner. This comment sparked allegations of transphobia in addition to the initial accusations of racism.

On Feb. 25, the president-elect and her running mate were elected. Shortly after, the president-elect was called into a meeting with the current president and senate chair of ASHMC. During this conversation, the ASHMC leaders told the president-elect that she could either step down or be dragged into a public recall vote, according to the president-elect. The president-elect asked for time to think, and shortly afterward the petitioner presented his request for a recall vote to the ASHMC Executive Board. 

On March 9, less than two weeks after the election results were released, students received an email notifying them that the ASHMC Executive Board had approved a petition to hold a recall vote, and that each party would give a speech the following night. Each candidate was allowed to write a 250-word statement to attach to the recall vote, and during the speeches they were given the chance to read their statements aloud.

The ASHMC Constitution states that a recall petition may be presented to the Executive Board and, if approved by three quarters of the board, it will be sent out to be voted upon by the Harvey Mudd student body. The Executive Board approved this petition unanimously, according to minutes from the ASHMC Executive Board meeting.

On Tuesday, March 10, Harvey Mudd students gathered in the Aviation Room in the Hoch-Shanahan Dining Commons to hear statements from each of the involved parties. In his speech, the petitioner reiterated the president-elect’s allegedly racist comment, before stating “I called her out on this, and she doubled down. She claimed that context and emotionality excused her. What context makes Blackness and qualification mutually exclusive? What emotion led [the president-elect] to think less of somebody’s capabilities due to the color of their skin?”

The petitioner also reiterated another statement made by the president-elect, in which “she… asked if I would be offended if the choice had been between someone qualified or someone trans.” He alleged that the president-elect “lacked the integrity to apologize. Every ‘I’m sorry’ was qualified with an excuse… She never apologized to me. She couldn’t even see why she should apologize.” An email obtained by The Forum reveals that the president-elect did offer an unqualified apology to the petitioner and his running mate.

The petitioner concluded his speech by saying: “Do you want to be represented by a student who makes prejudiced comments in private? Who is incapable of accepting criticism and unable to reflect onto her actions? Who was unwilling to apologize and tried to justify prejudice? How many of you are willing to try to do the same?”

The president-elect opened her speech by apologizing and taking responsibility for her actions. “I take responsibility for insensitive statements that I’ve made regarding the qualifications of Black and trans candidates, and I’m sorry for the harm I’ve caused, and I continue to take accountability.” 

She noted that the conversation in question happened over a year earlier, and stated that “since then, I have engaged in transformative and restorative justice.” She mentioned conversations with deans and those hurt by the situation, and she acknowledged “that my responses have sometimes been inappropriate.” 

The president-elect added that “Over the past year, I’ve worked to contribute positively to ASHMC and to Mudd.” She concluded: “I am the same person you’ve elected, and if allowed to move forward, I will continue working to uphold the Mudd values of community, curiosity, and inclusivity. I encourage anyone with further questions to contact me.”

In her interview with The Forum, the president-elect elaborated that her initial comment was made in response to a friend who expressed that they were going to vote for the petitioner because he and his running mate are Black. “I didn’t mean it to be about specifically the Black identity or any specific identity,” the president-elect said. “I guess a better way to put it is, should this fundamental identity guarantee you some sort of qualification; would you rather vote for someone Black and unqualified or not Black and qualified?” The petitioner did not respond to The Forum’s request for comment.

The voting form was released after statements concluded and will remain open until March 17. The student body vote requires a simple majority for the president-elect to be recalled, at which point a new election would take place.

This is an evolving story. Updates will be added as developments occur.

Amy Weng CMC ‘27 contributed reporting.