Clemson Student VP: Impeachment Reflects Campus Racism

CLEMSON, SC — Jeran Stewart, vice president of Clemson University's student government, said an impeachment vote against him reflects racism on campus. Stewart, who is black, was among about a dozen students who sat through the Pledge of Allegiance last month at a student government meeting in solidarity with NFL players protesting police brutality and racial oppression.

The university's student senate voted 40-18 by secret ballot Monday to impeach him. Student Senator Miller Hoffman, who is white, introduced the resolution, citing a leaked document describing alleged misconduct.

The allegations came right after Stewart sat for the pledge, he told the Anderson Independent-Mail.

The vote was held while Stewart was out of town. It sets up a closed-door impeachment trial to determine whether he should be removed from office. He will have an opportunity to defend himself. However, any senator who reveals details of the proceedings also will face impeachment, according to the student newspaper.

Hoffman denied that the motion was motivated by Stewart's pledge protest, or his race. He said Stewart was fired from his position as a resident assistant and was charged with trespassing. Stewart said the matter was resolved last summer.

Clemson University said its student body is 83 percent white and 7 percent African-American. University spokesman John Gouch said the impeachment started before the pledge protest.

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