ASUNM senator resigns after use of racist slurs

Associated Students of the University of New Mexico (ASUNM) Senator Romie Sandoval has resigned after text messages emerged in which Sandoval repeatedly used the n-word, causing a public outcry.

On Jan. 20, Twitter user @ntonyjean published screenshots providing evidence that Sandoval used the n-word in private messages. @ntonyjean didn’t disclose in the post the origins of the screenshots or whether they were the original recipient of the offending messages.

The Daily Lobo spoke with ASUNM president Mia Amin on Jan. 25 regarding the complaints about Sandoval’s language. Amin said she had no knowledge of the allegations and requested to have the screenshots forwarded to her so she could research the situation.

Later that day, Amin followed up with the Lobo with a statement directed at the student body that said, “This kind of language is unacceptable regardless of the context.” Amin said that she “takes this matter very seriously” and that she planned to meet with Sandoval immediately to ask him to resign from his position with ASUNM.

Amin also said that ASUNM “does not condone any kind of racism” and asserted that she would pursue disciplinary action should Sandoval refuse resignation.

Sandoval confirmed that he relinquished his undergraduate student government position following the meeting with Amin and released a formal apology on Twitter on Jan. 30.

“I should have known that as someone who has been elected in a position of student leadership, my conduct is no longer only representative of myself but rather every single person at the University,” Sandoval’s statement read. “Most importantly, I sincerely regret and apologize for the words I used in those conversations. I’ve learned the weight these words carry and the hurt they can cause and now understand I have no business using these words in any context.”

Sandoval went on to say he would make the “upmost effort” to educate himself in the “areas where I am ignorant and those closest to me feel I need improvement.” His Twitter account, created in September 2015, was purged of all tweets before the public apology.

ASUNM released a statement of their own on the same day announcing Sandoval’s resignation and condemning his use of racist slurs.

“Romie Sandoval no longer represents ASUNM. We were made aware of his use of racial slurs and asked him to step down from his role as a senator, and he did,” ASUNM’s perfunctory statement read. “ASUNM does not condone the use of inappropriate and racist language of any form.”

In an interview with the Daily Lobo on Jan. 27, Sandoval denied that he used the “hard r” in private messages and asserted that the leaked screenshots containing the hard r were doctored, claiming he has “the original text messages to prove that.” He didn’t deny using the n-word without the hard r and said he thought that because he had “Black family members and ... was raised in that culture that it was okay to use.”

Sandoval also refused to disclose the identity of the individual with whom he was exchanging the offending messages but confirmed that the individual was a roommate with whom he had a “very personal” falling out.

After the messages were posted online, the Daily Lobo received additional screenshots of a separate message exchange between Sandoval and a former ASUNM Senator where, in response to the idea for the creation of an Asian Pacific American Culture Center, Sandoval proposed “making ASUNM more inclusive” by establishing “an Anglo-Caucasian resource center.”

When asked by the former Senator why he thought there was a need for an “Anglo-Caucasian” resource center, Sandoval replied, “Because we have one for every other single racial and ethnic group except for that one and the Asian/Pacific Islander group.”

Sandoval added, “If we are aiming for inclusivity, why would we leave that group out?”

Sandoval continued the exchange by questioning the meaning behind the absence of an “Anglo-Caucasian resource center.”

“So some groups are more important than others, and we should advance other groups ahead of others,” Sandoval said.

On Jan. 30, Twitter user @ntonyjean published additional screenshots alleging Sandoval made disrespectful comments about former ASUNM senators Hotz and Suha Musa. According to the screenshots, Sandoval called the senators “libtards” and asserted that Hotz is “the worst” and that Musa “only chooses to represent those who aren’t privileged.” Both Hotz and Musa are people of color.

When asked whether he thought his use of the n-word would interfere with his career plans after college, Sandoval said he “would hope not” because “(I) know what I am — I’m not a racist.” Sandoval said at this time he doesn’t have career plans for the public sector.

Andrew Gunn contributed reporting to this article.

Hevyn Heckes is a freelance reporter at the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @H_Squared90