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Students ask ASBSU Senator Stoker to resign from his position
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Following a controversial column written by Brandon Stoker in The Arbiter, two students asked Stoker to resign during the Associated Students of Boise State University Senate meeting Tuesday. Stoker serves as the ASBSU social sciences/public affairs senator and is an opinion columnist for The Arbiter.
In an Oct. 17 column, Stoker argued that gang activity is most often the product of destructive and irresponsible reproductive behavior and single parenting. Students offended by the column, and unsatisfied with Stoker’s follow-up column in Monday’s issue of The Arbiter, asked Stoker to leave his post as ASBSU senator.
“I am here today, Mr. Stoker, to ask you to step down,” said April Clark, a BSU student and single mother. Clark held her young child as she addressed the Senate, saying Stoker’s remarks “bashed single parents.”
Taylor Kauer, student from the BSU College of Social Sciences and Public Affairs, also requested Stoker’s removal from ASBSU. Kauer accused Stoker of misrepresenting his BSU constituents and everything ASBSU stands for.
“As a social science major, I am appalled at the fact that somebody representing the [College] of Social Science[s] and Public Affairs is completely just hitting the people you’re supposed to be helping,” Kauer said. “You can write your opinion for The Arbiter as much as you want to, but not while you’re a senator and not while you’re representing me as a student and everyone else on campus.”
Also called into question was Stoker’s role on the Budget and Finance Committee. Clark said she felt Stoker would not fairly allocate funding to the groups he criticized in his Oct. 17 column, such as the Single Parents Club.
Stoker, however, said his personal views do not influence budgeting decisions.
“I can be impartial,” Stoker said, adding that the budget has already passed for this year. He said though he has strong political views, he did not inhibit clubs from receiving funding.
Sen. Texie Evans commended Stoker for his Oct. 24 Arbiter column.
“He makes a conscious effort to not mix his roles of being a representative of the student body and an opinion writer for The Arbiter,” she said.
Evans added that she doesn’t agree with Stoker and is critical of some of his views, but said he was elected by the student body and represents a large demographic group’s views.
Stoker closed with saying that he appreciates the diversity of student organizations at BSU.
“I would never try to take away from any of those organizations and what they do,” he said. “We have an open government here, and we listen to your concerns. On important issues like funding, I think that I’m a pretty fair person.”
Tessa Schweigert / Asst. News Editor
