ASUO President Emma Kallaway fired the Executive’s multicultural advocate, Diego Hernandez, on Monday.
Hernandez cited, as reasons for his dismissal, speculation linking him with a vacant seat on the ASUO Senate and a letter he posted online criticizing ASUO Vice President Getachew Kassa.
“It’s just drama,” Hernandez said.
Kassa and Kallaway spokesperson Curtis Haley confirmed that Hernandez had been fired, but he said they would not be specific on the reasons behind the dismissal.
“It would be unprofessional to bring up things that are personal, confidential,” Kassa said.
But Kassa said he and Kallaway believed Hernandez was unhappy with his position. “He made it clear to myself and President Kallaway,” Kassa said.
Hernandez has been involved in the ASUO in one way or another since being elected to the ASUO Senate in 2007. He is known within the ASUO for his passion for issues related to the representation of women and members of ethnic minorities and for the angry outbursts to which that passion can sometimes lead.
In Hernandez’s letter, uploaded to his Facebook page Jan. 12, he wrote that his reputation would have kept him from being confirmed to the Senate, which he called “a predominantly white space run by idealistic conservatives.”
“Me being on Senate won’t happen, because I am too vocal, too honest; liberals think that it’s not progressive to call people out on things they have no understanding of,” he wrote.
Hernandez said he had been asked to quit, but refused. At the end of his letter, he wrote, “Lastly, I am not going to quit just because Getachew and others think I should, if you want me gone then you’re going to have to fire me.”
Hernandez said he expected to be fired for a week before Monday, but did not expect to lose his multicultural position on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
“It’s fucked up,” he said.
Kassa, former president of the Black Student Union, said the choice of dates had been unintentional and based on scheduling conflicts.
“Today was the only opening we had to have this conversation,” Kassa said. “It is unfortunate that it was on MLK Day.”
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