BRUNSWICK

Impeachment proceedings were halted last week against two members of the Bowdoin College student government for their involvement in a tequila-themed party in February, the fallout of which has drawn national attention.

The student newspaper Bowdoin Orient quoted Inter-House Council Representative Jacob Russell as saying: “It has been brought to light that the impeachment proceedings in the BSG constitution and bylaws are extremely vague and could make not only us but the entire assembly vulnerable to legal action.”

A Bowdoin spokesman deferred to a March 4 statement from Bowdoin College President Clayton Rose.

“Because of our legal obligation to protect student confidentiality, I cannot comment specifically on this party, although I will say that the issues we are dealing with are not really about hats or drinks,” Rose said in the statement.

Rose said ethnic stereotyping is in violation of the school’s social code — a code Rose said is similar to codes of conduct for state and federal employees. Rose said Bowdoin, over the years, has been a leader in gender and religious equality — even when such practices were not socially accepted by some.

In 2014, a so-called “Cracksgiving” party was held at off-campus housing, after which the college announced plans to discipline

14 members of the lacrosse team for dressing up as American Indians, in violation of the college’s social code.

In October 2015, the college’s sailing team came under fire for holding a so-called “gangster party” that was characterized as racist and drew complaints.

In this most recent incident, on Feb. 20, students donned miniature sombreros, wore fake mustaches and drank tequila at the on-campus party, which again drew complaints of cultural appropriation.

Several national news outlets have shined a spotlight to the reaction on campus as well as to the impeachment proceedings.

On the conservative-leaning news site Breitbart, correspondent Allum Bokhar wrote, “The problem of coddled students … appears to be getting worse rather than better.”

An opinion piece in the Washington Post noted that at the same night the tequila party took place, a sanctioned Cold War party occurred. At this party, attendees dressed in stereotypic

Balkans attire, with some attendees referring to themselves as Stalin, whose regime killed millions of people.

One op-ed posted in The Orient came from student Francisco Navarro. Navarro was born in Miami, Florida, to Cuban parents and spent his first 15 years of his life in Mexico before his family settled in Louisiana.

Navarro wrote of his “respectful dissent” and possibly one of the only vocal voices of dissent in the fray.

“The only irrefutable fault I see, worthy of punitive measures, is that they disobeyed the hard alcohol ban. The rest of the actions were not acts of bias or misappropriation,” Navarro wrote.

Navarro said sombreros, ponchos, tequila and other such items do not define the Mexican culture — adding that the Mexican culture is “far richer than that” and said that because that culture was not fully represented does not equate to misappropriation.

However, in another opinion piece on The Orient, student Giselle Hernandez, who is of Mexican decent, wrote, in part: “To those who threw this party: your intentions were very clear as to what kind of ‘fiesta’ you were going to have and what Mexican stereotypes you were going to display. If you think that’s not true, look at the stereotypical props you put on, and ask yourself why you chose them. … My family wears sombreros, not as ridiculous props but as a sign of a proud heritage and fun customs. … My uncles have mustaches and wear boots, belts and hats sometimes because it is their fashion.”

Hernandez concluded: “You cannot take my culture for your own entertainment, especially if you don’t know anything beyond the two minutes of history you had in your ignorant American textbook.”

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