By now you have all heard the news: SGA President Jake Statom will not be impeached. I, as well as many of you, are thinking, “what went wrong?”

I want to make myself very clear: Yes, I am a Christian. Yes, I believe in free speech. No, I’m not a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. No, I do not think that Statom deserves to hold his position after the post he shared on Instagram and comments he made on his Twitter. 

Many have argued, saying that Statom can say whatever he wants on his personal social media pages. Yes, but you hold a sense of responsibility when you are in office. These platforms are the very ones that he used to promote his campaign last spring. Social media is a tool, and if you use it to advocate for your position, you should not use it against others once you are in said position. Just because you can do something, does it mean you should? Especially when you’ve made a commitment as a leader? He agreed to respect all students, and he failed.

Those who are not part of the Christian faith or familiar with the language in the Bible may not know that to “be born again” means to accept Jesus. Even if they do, they have full freedom to believe and live the way that they want without feeling that the one who is representing them is prejudiced against them.

As a Christian, I am disgusted that this is the image many will have of Christians on our campus. I am horrified that this instance will turn people curious about faith away from God. The God I serve loves you, but I won’t force you to see things the way I do. 

I have no hatred towards Statom,but I do not respect his leadership capabilities or agree with him in the slightest. He should have stepped down when he saw how many people he had hurt.

In answer to my question — where did it all go wrong?– I believe that many people took sides in this fight based on political parties in the United States. This is not a Democratic vs. Republican debate. This is about making students on our campus feel safe and accepted. Respect should not be attributed to one party or the other, and if it is, why would you want to be on the other side? One of Statom’s supporters commented at his hearing that it is impossible to have a leader for all people. This is the problem.

To my friends in the LGBTQIA+ community, to the students I met outside the senate chambers that day who were scared, to the UNA student body, I’m sorry. You have my full support, and I vow to make The Flor-Ala a place where all opinions are welcome, while still respecting one another.