RUSA senator comes forward with accounts of discrimination against marginalized groups

Malachi Sutton, a School of Arts and Sciences junior, senator in the Rutgers University Student Assembly and student representative to the Rutgers Board of Governors, released a statement yesterday alleging that the Assembly perpetuates discriminatory practices toward minority groups.

The statement was posted on Instagram by Miguel Ribau, a School of Arts and Sciences senior who resigned as a member of the Assembly executive board on Wednesday, citing a lack of inclusivity for LGBTQ+ students.

“Upon the recent events of watching my former colleagues resign due to facing discrimination based on their gender, sexuality and race, I believe it is (important) to speak to my own experiences of the discrimination I have faced as a Black Queer Muslim, as well as to make a call to action for the student assembly to deeply reflect on its mistreatment towards marginalized groups,” Sutton said.

Sutton said that while the Assembly has allowed them to advocate for marginalized groups within the student body, the organization itself breeds elitism and discrimination against minorities implicitly and explicitly.

Despite Sutton’s three years of experience in the Assembly, which includes participating in committees, writing bills and serving on the University’s Senate and Board of Governors, they said their expertise has repeatedly been overlooked by other members of the Assembly due to their racial identity. 

During the Spring 2021 semester, Sutton applied for the Big Ten liaison position within the Assembly and was offered an interview, according to their statement. They said they were told by their interviewer that although they had the qualifications for the position, they did not have the right connections for it.

They were offered the athletics coordinator position instead, despite them lacking knowledge of University sports and connections to the Rutgers Athletics administration, they said.

"At the time, I tried not to think much of it, but in hindsight, it merely came down to me being one of the only few African-American individuals within (the Assembly)," Sutton said. "I was notified that my selection for athletics coordinator was still met with hesitancy from some executive board members because I was still deemed to be 'unqualified.'"

Sutton said they decided it was the best decision for them to leave the Assembly's executive board around August 2021 as a result of the board’s aggression toward people of color and queer identities, including Ribau and former Assembly Secretary Andrea Jimenez, a School of Arts and Sciences senior.

Sutton also described an instance during the Assembly's inaugural banquet where a student representative touched their hair without permission while asking about their “ethnic background.” They said they have not received any apology from the representative since the experience.

Additionally, Sutton said they have witnessed current and former Assembly representatives make condescending remarks about Black students and community advocates during events such as Rutgers University Police Department (RUPD) town hall sessions. 

“All forms of insults were targeted towards their grammar and usage of language, following the questioning of how 'practical' their questions were towards RUPD,” they said. “Keep in mind that these events occurred during 2020 at the height of the (Black Lives Matter) protests and George Floyd's death.”

In reference to Ribau’s resignation letter, Sutton identified themselves as one of the individuals who had been continually misgendered by members of the Assembly, despite Ribau’s attempts to correct the others. They said these incidents all contributed to their fear of publicly identifying with their sexuality and gender as well as their fear of speaking up about instances of discrimination.

The Assembly has not yet issued a statement in response to The Daily Targum's request for comment.

Sutton said that now is the time for a structural reformation of the organization through addressing the systemic consequences of racism, classism and other forms of discrimination.

“More importantly, I seek to address how those same institutional repercussions have damaged the social and personal experiences for marginalized communities at Rutgers University," they said. "I am only one person out of tens of thousands of students. Think about the thousands of students who get mistreated daily for simply existing and do not have the proper channels or platform to express their pain.”