The student senate at the University of Texas at Arlington has voted unanimously to remove the student body president. The vote to remove Caitlyn Burge-Surles followed her impeachment.
Burge-Surles was impeached for comments she posted on the website, Discord. According to Jacqueline Avila, a student senator, and impeachment manager, Burge-Surles said Iran should be bombed as a "one and done."
Members of the Black Student Association say she had also posted that fentanyl killed George Floyd in 2020, not a Minneapolis police officer. The organization held a rally to protest the comments last month.
"As representative organizations of the Black community at the University of Texas at Arlington, we are appalled and shocked by the abhorrent and racially insensitive comments made by the current Student Body President and Chief of Staff," the Black Student Association posted on Instagram.
In the post, the organization asked university leadership to condemn "all hateful and racist rhetoric" and for an investigation into the comments.
At the hearing Tuesday, Burge-Surles said she made the comments as a joke in a private discussion.
"They were on my own time. They didn't have my name attached to them. Frankly, they did not affect my ability to do my job at all," she said.
Burge-Surles says she has been harassed and bullied since the comments became public, saying she is now dealing with increased anxiety. On LinkedIn, she says she is studying public relations and English.
"I am passionate about improving connections between diverse groups and using my interpersonal and communications skills on a daily basis," she wrote in her bio.
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