Malachi Randolph, Student Government Association president, has apologized following his resignation for tweets that he said were out of frustration.
The resignation announcement followed a flurry of critical tweets Tuesday in response to Randolph tweeting a series of degrading comments toward Chinese people and culture.
Randolph, who had an Asian studies minor as a freshman and has been to China, apologized for the tweets.
“I’m sorry on all fronts. I’ll say it over and over again,” he said. “I was very frustrated and stressed out with all the work I had to do. I was frustrated with my boss, and he happens to be Asian. The fact that he’s Asian plays no role…
“I cannot have a perfect Twitter. I’m sorry, I can’t. I can try, and I’m going to try a lot harder from now on to be professional, and not to express my views in a way that will be considered as racist or even hurtful.”
Though Randolph is not performing SGA duties, his official written resignation may not be given to the student senate until Wednesday, said current Vice President Chloe Anagnos.
A week after the resignation goes through, Anagnos will move up to president, and Alyssa France, current president pro tempore, will take the role of vice president. Senate elections will take place in about two weeks to determine the next president pro tempore, Anagnos said.
“Obviously I am stepping into this right off the bat,” Anagnos said. “This is obviously a lot different from when I actually ran because when I ran I knew the responsibilities of the vice president very well, whereas president, I don’t know those responsibilities as well.“
Randolph will remain in New York City for Fashion Week for at least another week.
“I don’t think that it’s going to blow over,” he said. “It’s already too late for it to blow over.”
Randolph said returning without SGA will be “different.”
“I was spending a good 50 hours a week working for Ball State and SGA and in my office,” he said. “My life was SGA.”
The university will not be taking any disciplinary action regarding Randolph.
“His remarks are not a violation of any university policy or law,” said Tony Proudfoot, a university spokesperson. “He is likely to find, however, that such remarks do have unintended social consequences beyond formal actions from the university.”
CAMPUS DIVERSITY
Promoting diversity on campus and encouraging unity between student organizations were among the executive board’s platform points during their campaign last school year. They had planned to partner with the Rinker Center for International Programs.
Imara Dawson, executive director of the Rinker Center, said he has not been approached by SGA yet, but the “door is always open.”
Giang Tran, secretary of the SGA board, said they are still committed to those points, even in the wake of Randolph’s resignation.
According to the Rinker Center, there are 767 international students from Asian countries, 330 of which are from China.
Romelle Taday, president of the Asian American Student Association, said she was offended by the tweets and is worried about the students in her organization.
“It concerns me that the Chinese students [in] my organization may be deeply hurt by Malachi’s tweets,” Taday said in a statement. “It is because of that diversity that our country is as great as it is today. I can only hope that Malachi rethinks the biases revealed in his tweets and appreciates the diversity that thrives on Ball State’s campus.”
Randolph said his tweets were “venting” about one person and not meant to offend an entire culture.
“The tweets were not directed to a race. … I hope that will help [offended] people understand I was just venting over a really tough boss that I have,” Randolph said. “I hope people who are hurt choose to reach out to me.”
MOVING FORWARD
Charlene Alexander, associate provost for diversity, believes the incident highlighted natural biases.
“It reminds me that this is a wonderful opportunity for everyone to understand how important diversity is,” she said. “While we’re making lots of progress, there are still lots of areas for growth.”
Dawson said he hopes to work with SGA to avoid these situations in the future.
“My office could work with the SGA to make sure that we can work together, and make sure that people on campus have a much better understanding of how other cultures work and have more cultural sensitivity so we won’t have these unfortunate events happening,” Dawson said.
Anagnos said she and the rest of the board will try to make amends with the student body.
“Although I don’t really like the circumstance that I acquired this position, I definitely embrace the opportunity,” she said. “I am willing to put forth my positive and energetic attitude and kind of console anyone who may have been offended by what had happened.”
The incident highlighted what was the appropriate use of social media, Taday said.
“I also hope that students, especially student leaders, will be more cognisant of the things we post on social media,” she said in a statement. “After all, people are watching and we should always represent the best of who we are.”
Christopher Stephens and Adam Baumgartner contributed to this story.
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