Part two: Student government’s semester of allegations and silence

If you ask former Legislative Council President Julia Foley to describe CU Student Government in one word, she’d say it’s toxic. 

Foley, a junior political science and information science student, left the organization on good terms when her term ended in spring 2021 and watched from afar as dramatic conversations ensued within and between the three branches who struggled through the fall 2021 session. 

She initially planned on returning to the organization in the tri-executive position after running for election, but now has no interest in being a part of CUSG due to the working environment she found there. 

Last fall, many members echoed Foley’s sentiment, saying they too don’t want to work in an environment where race and gender are not valued. Since Oct. 2021, things have improved, new legislative council president Crisol Corral is trying to improve the environment through improved communication about legislation and personal issues. 

Accusations of racism throughout the years  

In 2005, Mebraht Gebre-Michael, one of the only Black women to hold a tri-executive title, received an email from a CU address that contained a death threat and said that she and other Black students didn’t belong on campus. 

In an interview at the time, Gebre-Michael told the Associated Press that she went public with the threat because she wanted people in the campus community to know what she and other students of color were up against.

“The climate on campus is just becoming unbearable for students of color,” she told the Associated Press.

More than 15 years later, issues related racial and gender inequity still surface in CUSG.

“You put like, 20 power-hungry college students in a room and then they’re like ‘here discuss $26 million’,” Foley said. “Ultimately, it’s the students’ decisions and as great as that is … it creates this environment that we see again and again, because, I mean, $26 million is a lot to allocate and to have it put on students is even more. I don’t know what the solution is.” 

CUSG oversees the largest budget of any student government in the country. They make spending decisions for student clubs, the University Memorial Center, the student recreation center and many more on-campus activities and organizations.

It’s important to acknowledge the difficulty of the positions in student government. Members have stated that being full-time students and the stress that comes from courses and a social life—in addition to their participation in student government—may have caused stress and high tensions, which led to the disagreements and issues that the organization has seen. It’s an organization that is run by students, that has a massive budget, with large and important decisions to be made, all without the intervention of an advisor with real power within the organization, Foley said. 

Last fall, when Cole Wise—who has since left the position after being hired last spring—was the CUSG advisor, met weekly with members from each of the three branches and attended all meetings. If mediation was necessary, the advisor could step in to control the conversation and report the issues back to Student Affairs. 

The organization has seen it all. From 2018 budget cuts that sparked campus protests to a 2016 fraudulent election with results and a Chancellor that over turned the accused, keeping them in power for their 2016 terms, discrimination is persistent throughout the years. 

In 2016, the CU Independent reported that Colton Lyons and Marcus Fotenos, two tri-executive candidates running on the Revolution party ticket, were disqualified for bribery and unauthorized tabling. Chancellor Philip DiStefano overturned the ruling and the two were in power for the session. 

The Black Student Alliance was frustrated by the lack of support that Lyons and Fotenos showed for groups composed of students from marginalized populations and disappointed in their inability to provide plans on how they would support diversity movements, the CUI reported at the time. 

And since 2016, allegations of microaggressions from and within the organization have persisted. Former members such as Sophia Khan and Quentin Fellows have expressed first-hand accounts and witnessed microaggressions within student government. 

Foley’s successor, Sophia Khan, expressed frustrations on a Facebook live legislative council meeting about alleged racism contaminating the entire organization this past summer. She said as a woman of color, it is not her responsibility to educate people about race-related issues. The issues Khan cited over the summer followed the organization into the fall semester. 

In October, the three tri-executives—Kavya Kannan, Taylor Weinz and Ben Capeloto— and the judicial branch leaders, Allessandra Wilson and Emily Huang, released statements on the CU Student Government Instagram account concerning diversity and the Chancellor’s agreement. 

“We have, and will continue to provide, our time and effort for open and honest conversations with the rest of CUSG leadership to create a more inclusive and respectful environment,” said the tri-executives. “With every branch of CU Student Government being led and composed by women and people of color, it is imperative that the concerns, voices, and stories of all members of color within this organization are equally validated by the community at large.”

In neither of the statements was the legislative branch’s strike mentioned. In the days prior to the release of these statements, the legislative council announced they would be going on strike to demand accountability on race and gender issues from the other two branches to shine light on larger systemic issues in the organization. 

In an Oct. 13 interview, Kavya Kannan expressed that she has worked in this environment all four years she has been an undergraduate student at CU.

“I think it’s important to acknowledge that this is not a new issue, I think every single administration dating back to the establishment of CUSG has grappled with this issue,” she said. “As one of the longest standing members of CUSG … it’s important for me to acknowledge that I have worked in a setting that is conducive to these ideas and so have other leaders of other branches as well.”

On Instagram, the CU Student Government account, released a statement written jointly by Kannan and Alessandra Wilson regarding instances of racism and sexism they too have experienced in the organization. 

“For the first time ever the both of us are directly addressing the people who have caused us continuous harm and we are calling for the end of this mistreatment,” the post said. “We are women of color within the leadership of CU Student Government. But more importantly, we are students and we are humans.”

Talking about Racism & Sexism in CUSG: 2 Lived Accounts by: Kavya Kannan & Alessandra Wilson

No further statements about race and the internal issues Kannan and Wilson have experienced have been made since the Oct. 14 letter. Since Nov. 18, the only tri-executive member to speak with student media has been Taylor Weinz. Both the chief justice and the deputy chief justice—even with turnover changing who is in power—have not responded for comment since Oct. 13.

For the legislative branch of CUSG, going on strike was a means of protesting the alleged racism and the chancellor’s agreement amendments, which allowed elected members to be removed from office if CU administration saw fit. The legislative branch council strike meant the branch would continue to work on existing legislation but would not review new cases brought to them. 

Legislative members attended meetings during their strike to ensure that student organizations wouldn’t feel the repercussions of the inter-branch arguments. This meant that legislative representatives attended joint board and committee meetings, which oversee on-campus organizations, and senators attended their colleges and schools and committee meetings for operations within each college, but members of the legislative branch did not attend Legislative Council meetings.

“[The disagreements and strike was]  really making a statement about how the behavior in CU Student Government, and I really think just on CU campus in general, has been for a long time and that’s a culture of microaggressions,” said Quintin Fellows, a junior international affairs major, who was a legislative liaison at the time of the October 12, 2021 interview.

Fellows was serving his first semester as legislative liaison—whose duties include assisting the legislators and providing input on legislation—but he has since left his position. 

In an interview, Fellows criticized the tri-executives’ decision to amend the chancellor’s agreement without consulting the other branches. While it’s not necessary for the tri-executives to do so, the change came as a surprise to many members since they were included in all previous conversations in 2020, 2013, 2014 and 1985. 

Chancellor’s agreement explained

The chancellor’s agreement has been amended five times, with the first in 1985—when the student government was named the University of Colorado Student Union and had significantly less power— and the most recent in October, which allows any member, who are elected by students, to be removed from their position if CU administration sees fit.

Following the disputes among the CUSG leadership about the chancellor’s agreement, the executive branch released a statement on Instagram entitled “With Regards to the Chancellor’s Agreement,” where the actions of the tri-executives to amend the agreement and the power they hold as the executive branch were defended.

“To the same effect that the Legislative Branch and the Judicial Branch of CUSG are afforded checks over the Executive Branch, the Executive Branch is provided the ability to revise the ‘Chancellor’s Agreement.,’” the statement read. “The opportunity to run for Tri-Executive and hold the authority to revise and edit the Chancellor’s Agreement is open and accessible to any and all fee-paying students at CU Boulder.”  

Frustration stemmed since the most recent amendment decision was made without the knowledge and participation of other branch leaders. 

“Legislative council has gone on strike to protest the adverse effects of racism, sexism, branch inequity and a lack of regard for student autonomy,” said legislative council vice president Nikky Garaga. “… All of [the legislative] council was extremely blindsided to hear from alumni of CUSG that major changes had been made to the chancellor’s agreement by the tri-executives.”

(See the previous article in this series for exact copies of the current chancellor’s agreement and the previous one.) 

Student media blacklisted

After reporting on the breaking news of the strike, both student newspapers on CU’s campus, The Bold and the CU Independent, were essentially blacklisted by the elected members. No communication from any member was provided to student outlets about rebuilding within the organization in the many weeks following the legislative strike. Many current and former members of CUSG have not been willing to speak on the record with reporters from both publications. 

Reporters from The Bold have sought interviews with CUSG members since the strike, but only two—tri-executive Taylor Weinz and new legislative council president Crisol Corral— have been responsive to media requests. 

Henry Larson, the managing editor for the CU Independent, noted how hard it’s been to cover CUSG and its members. Larson acknowledged the mistakes that were made in initial reporting by both The Bold and the CUI. Mistakes by both outlets included a rush to publish the breaking news without knowledge of the intricacies of the organization.

While there were a lot of conversations about microaggressions and racism in the organization, when student journalists attempted to provide clarity over the very serious and structural issues presented publicly by members, members of student media were stonewalled and met with silence from students who held powerful positions in each branch. 

Essentially, members were told by the tri-executives to not speak to reporters from the CUI and The Bold, a former member said. Given the nature of the conversation, the former member has requested anonymity.

Following the initial reporting about the legislative council strike, reporters from The Bold sought to provide both the judicial and executive branch leaders a chance to comment. Reporters were met with refusal to comment and a misunderstanding of journalistic processes, which were later resolved after the publishing of a second article on Oct. 13 which stated they did not want to comment. 

In an Oct. 12 email to The Bold, Kavya Kannan wrote:

“Myself, the other student body presidents, the leadership of the Judicial Branch, and other members of both of our respective branches have very serious concerns about the factual inaccuracies within this piece. At this time, we do not feel comfortable participating in an interview with you. We will be issuing a statement later this afternoon, and we encourage you to update your article accordingly.”

In initial reporting, The Bold published the information and allegations from the legislative branch press release announcing the strike. The article stated interviews would be conducted with more members and the article would be updated in the following days. Top members from the executive and judicial branches sent almost identical disclaimers above their first public statements regarding the legislative strike. 

After receiving pushback from Kannan and Chief Justice Wilson, the CU Independent took down their story on the strike, though The Bold did not. The CUI has since republished their initial reporting on the strike. 

“What I think is really commendable is just the way that the student organizations responded to that initial criticism, I feel like both The Bold and the Independent responded with the utmost courtesy and respect towards those involved,” said Larson, who authored the CUI’s article. “It’s been challenging to hear their response.”

The difficulties for members to comment has persisted into the spring semester, with the vast majority of members declining to talk about the experiences that they saw or took part in last fall. 

“Ultimately I just stopped hearing from the sources I was talking with,” Larson said. “And if I’m not able to talk to anybody, I’m not able to write anything, especially with a story that is developing as quickly as that.”

“CUSG failing to respond substantially—or even at all—to inquiries around the strike isn’t appropriate, especially for one of the largest student government institutions in the country, ” said W.H. Oxendine, the executive director of the American Student Government Association. 

Oxendine, whose organization exists to help student governments improve, said CUSG should be actively responding to media inquiries, “Are they required to? No. Is it good optics for them not to? No, it’s not. It implies secrecy, it implies malfeasance… that’s the implication of not being willing to speak.” 

Relationships between CUSG members and student media have somewhat been mended, since Weinz and Corral have participated in interviews with The Bold. 

Oxendine notes that a student government’s number one job is to be an advocate for CU students, even students who are a part of news outlets. 

Since serving students should be a top priority, “in doing so, I think they should not be reticent about speaking to the press,” Oxendine said.  

Since the strike

Since the Oct. 11 strike, many of the members have left their positions, either leaving the organization behind entirely or not renewing their expired terms. 

Many members of the organization have decided to leave behind the tensions they experienced last fall. 

Fellows blamed the source of the entire dispute on the white members of leadership for their treatment of the legislative staff, which includes many women of color. Fellows did not feel comfortable providing specifics. 

“They’re all really amazing, talented people, but they aren’t [awarded with] the same respect that I feel other members of the CU student government are, especially the tri-execs,” Fellows said.

Amending the chancellor’s agreement was the tipping point for many members, which caused continued arguments in the remaining two months of the semester.

And while changes within CUSG happen often, some changes are bigger than others. 

Jake Carias, a CUSG alum for both the executive and legislative branches, thinks that the executive branch hit a new low. He doesn’t know if that new low point was in the 2020 session or with the current tri-executives, but the success of the organization is determined by the people in power, he said. 

“It really depends on the leadership and who’s in charge, because, like I said, it’s top down. You can have some people who really drive [the boat] well. You will have other people who drive the boat and they end up going in circles,” Carias said. “You have other people who will end up sinking it.”

Many CUSG members took to social media following the announcement of the strike. In preliminary interviews with leaders from each branch, statements and opinions were contradictory. Some people were challenging the view that racism and microaggressions exist solely in the legislative branch.

And while emotions were still flying high, Carias notes that close personal friendships and political preferences within the organization were and will continue to be the largest issues facing the current elected body.

Members and outsiders speculated about the disputes, noting that it appeared as if the executive and judicial branch were banding together against the legislative branch. It is important to note that tri-executive Kavya Kannan was a former member of the judicial branch before her election as student body president.

“They’re going at each other and they might be coming from a place of truth for both of them, but they’re not hearing each other,” Carias said. “And then, once you add in those policy issues, all doors are closed.”

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According to newly hired program advisor, Eldred Foster, who came onboard on Jan. 4, CUSG is back in the swing of things. 

“There’s a lot of recovery from what happened,” Foster said about mending communication and tensions within and between the branches.

Students have gotten to the root of last semester’s issue, which was communication. Foster feels there now is a lot more communication between the branches.

Foley said communication and immaturity were at the heart of the issues she saw when she was part of CUSG.

“This is the first time people are having this sort of autonomy … giving college students this much power clearly causes this power struggle that goes on every single year,” Foley said, noting that this is partly a result of the large budget that CUSG oversees. 

While many members ultimately left the organization after the tensions of last fall—either by quitting the organization entirely or not renewing their terms—members who stayed said things are on the mend. 

“I feel like relations within the other branches have improved slightly,” said Crissol Corral, who took over as legislative council president after Khan’s term ended. “I feel like some branches still hold grudges and I mean, I understand. It was a very, very mentally draining session. But I feel like starting a new session should have been that moment where we start over, we clean the slate, we rebuild.”

Members generally say that things are better than they were, but the systemic and structural issues have not been met head on with solutions. 

“I really hope that people can work towards a more positive environment and energy just because I think that’s what makes people want to get things done when they want to be there,” Foley said.

Originally reported for CU News Corps 

Additional reporting by Dawson Drew and Georgia Worrell

Editors Note: This article was revised on March 20, 2023. The article intended to note that Legislative Liaison Quintin Fellows’ interview was conducted on October 12, 2021 and that Fellows claimed to have been speaking on behalf of Sophia Khan, legislative president.