Leadership training halted

A video sparks anger toward, and discomfort among, ASG senators and advisors

Mikaela Foehr / News Editor / The USD Vista

At  a student leadership training event, a video shown during a presentation on communication across differences was taken to be racially insensitive. Student leaders involved in Associated Student Government (ASG) and Torero Program Board (TPB) attended the training, held on Saturday, Feb. 1, which was run by the faculty advisors for both of these organizations. 

It was during a presentation by Nicholas Twohig, a graduate assistant at USD, entitled “Dialogue Through Differences” that the video was shown. The video was a TEDx Talk titled “Why I, as a black man, attend KKK rallies” given by Daryl Davis. The 18 minute speech consists of Davis explaining why he came to a personal decision to seek out Ku Klux Klan (KKK) members and attempt to understand “how they can hate an entire race that they do not know.”  In the video, Davis expresses that his purpose of giving these talks is to explain how “fear of the unknown breeds hate.” The intention behind showing this video was to depict an example of bridging serious racial divides through communication, but that was not the message received in the room.

The video does depict (KKK) paraphilia at times, and no trigger warning was given to the students. According to Speaker of the Senate Carolina Morena Armento, a collective decision was made to stop the presentation after some student leaders in the room became visibly uncomfortable and upset. The entire training ended shortly after due to the lingering emotional effects the students had after viewing the video. Morena Armento also specified that Twohig, “was given the opportunity to take responsibility for his actions and lack of trigger-warning use that day, but he declined.”

During the senate meeting on Thursday, Feb. 6, the events of the previous Saturday were prominent in the minds of senators and members of the public. When it came time to discuss the events of the training, sophomore Senator Chidi Okaru read a prepared statement.

Okaru was dissatisfied with the handling of the video within the presentation’s context  and with the overarching decision to use that particular video. In her statement, she implored the senate, TPB, the university administration, and the broader campus community to take complicated racial instances involving students of color seriously. Okaru particularly emphasized this in the context of black student experiences at USD, who are severely underrepresented on campus and make up only 3% of the student body.

“We must be vocal in the face of hate,” Okaru said. “It is the responsibility of ASG and campus administration to stand against hate, whether it is the vandalization of buildings on this campus by white supremacist stickers placed by currently unnamed male individuals, or the act of forcing racist and disrespectful ideology upon students under the guise of training and active listening.”

Okaru’s statement also called on TPB to create more events that promote relevant diversity and inclusion, for TPB to also try and reflect campus diversity within their own staff, and for the Department of Public Safety to keep students better informed and updated on racially-charged events such as the act of intolerance that occurred over Intersession. 

Her statement prompted apologies by members of the senate, such as Elisse Etcheverry, the TPB Chair, who did not speak up against the video as it played.

“I speak on behalf of Torero Program Board and I want to make it clear that no one condones what happened,” Etcheverry said. “I cannot speak to why no one else spoke in that moment but I do want to say that I am very sorry for not speaking up in that moment.”

Etcheverry also pledged to create an emphasis on increasing diversity and inclusion in TPB’s programs and staff this semester.

Following the senate discussion, members of the public had a chance to speak. Many followed suit and expressed their anger and disappointment in the decision to show the video, the lack of competent discussion around the video, and in the lack of oversight that allowed the video to be shown. 

Ayo Bandele, a senior student who was not a part of the Saturday training, was concerned that the discussion would center on retroactive feelings, and not on next steps or consequences for the senate, and Twohig.

“Who cares what we are feeling right now?” Bandele said. “I want to know what you do when someone does something like this.”

Elie Nyembo echoed Bandele’s thoughts, expressing his anger at Twohig’s decision-making process by asking, “Who is going to be leading these cultural competency discussions? Because clearly the person leading these discussions was not culturally competent.”

Other members of the public offered the senate their input for how to move forward from this incident. Alanna Bledman recommended that if this situation was too uncomfortable for members of the senate, based on the apparent lack of discussion surrounding this event, then they should step down. 

“I understand how exhausting this work is, but if you are not willing or capable please give your seat up to someone else who is,” Bledman said. “For you to be quiet and not say anything in the face of someone else’s adversity, you are just as wrong and just as bad.”

Some senators, such as Jesse Magaña, the Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity Committee Chair, took up this call as well, reiterating that this is a difficult job that demands time, effort, and being exposed to difficult situations where you may be criticized for your decisions and actions.

“I for one am tired of seeing the same seats empty, the same people with proxies, the same people saying they don’t know how to do their job, the same people silent, and the same people doing nothing,” Magaña said. “If you can’t do it, then give up your seat and allow space for people who are ready to be committed to the work.”

The public also demanded more oversight on presentations like this. Those who spoke requested to know what was being done to hold those responsible for the presentation accountable for emotional stress caused. These complaints were namely directed toward Nicholas Twohig, who gave the presentation, and Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs Cynthia Avery, Ed.D. who approved it. 

In response to this, and other calls for the senate to be more proactive in their leadership, Fanisee Bias, the Student Organizations Chair, pledged to reach out to Avery, who left the senate meeting early, and confirm that she would be in attendance at the next senate meeting. Bias also encouraged members of the public to come to her if they ever wanted “final business” moved up in the senate’s agenda. Final business is the portion of the senate meeting where members of the public are able, and encouraged, to speak their minds on senate business.

Presently, Nicholas Twohig is not working on campus, and his further involvement with ASG is being discussed according to Jen Lee, another ASG advisor. If any students have further questions on this event, the ASG executive team and the ASG advisors maintained that their doors are open to discuss the event and answer any questions that they currently have answers to. 

The USD Vista reached out to Dr. Avery and asked for clarification on the video’s intended purpose, but she refrained to comment, only confirming that she will make a statement at the next senate meeting. The USD Vista also reached out to Chidi Okaru for further clarification on the events of the student training and had not received a response by the time of publication. The next meeting will be held on Thursday, Feb. 13 in Solomon Hall, beginning at 12:30 p.m.