In a meeting on Sunday, the Carolina International Relations Association Executive Board impeached senior Denton Ong as editor-in-chief of The Internationalist, a research journal that partners with the organization. Ong voluntarily resigned as vice president of CIRA immediately prior to the vote to impeach.
The Executive Board called for a general body meeting on Tuesday night. One purpose for the meeting was for the Board to give an official statement on Ong’s resignation and impeachment from his executive positions, as well as his expulsion from the general body of CIRA.
“On Sunday afternoon, the CIRA Executive Board was made aware of credible allegations of misconduct against Denton Ong,” said Sofie Senecal, chief financial officer of CIRA. “The allegations of misconduct were brought forward by Hannah Olmstead, Taylor Gosk and Patrick Costley. These allegations included attempted division of Hannah and Taylor, consistent derogatory comments, yelling at CIRA members during (Model United Nations at Chapel Hill) preparation meetings and persistent childish behavior poking a CIRA member repeatedly with the corner of a folder after she explicitly asked him to stop. These actions made Hannah and Taylor uncomfortable enough that they decided it was necessary to bring them up to the Board. After hearing a prior allegation from a CIRA member, Hannah, Taylor and Patrick decided to motion for impeachment.”
In the Formal Notice of Action attached to an email sent to CIRA's listserv on Sunday, Olmstead, Gosk and Costley, all members of CIRA's Executive Board, stated that they "believe these actions constitute dereliction of duty to provide a safe and open environment for all club members, failure to adhere to UNC standards of conduct, and violation of Title IX of the federal code." The notice stated three reasons that the signees wanted to move forward with a motion for impeachment:
- "Denton’s sexual and workplace harassment of a CIRA member beginning in the summer of 2018 and continuing into UNCMUNC X;"
- "A complaint being made by said CIRA member to a member of the Board and no appropriate inclusion of the Board to discuss appropriate repercussions;"
- "Gendered aggression and unprofessional treatment of subordinates during MUNCH XIX."
Ong declined to comment on any of the allegations, but said he has not received notice from the UNC Title IX Office.
"I do want to say that after dedicating four years to CIRA, including work at the journal, The Internationalist, I'm going to state that despite these circumstances, it's a very valuable organization, and I encourage other people to join it. I really look forward to finishing my semester in Chapel Hill and graduating," Ong said.
An email was sent from Senecal’s personal email on Sunday to CIRA’s listserv stating the Executive Board voted to impeach Ong in response to “credible allegations of sexual harassment.” The same email said an open executive meeting would be held in place of a regularly scheduled general body meeting on Monday night. However, this meeting was cancelled in a subsequent email from CIRA president Yusheng Zhang on Monday afternoon, postponing the general body meeting. Later that evening, the Executive Board sent an email announcing that a general body meeting would be held at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
“At the time, we believed that explaining the decision in the most appropriate manner and that holding a general body meeting the following night was the most appropriate step toward handling this delicate matter properly and transparently,” Senecal said at the Tuesday meeting. “However, we were offered an opportunity to consult University resources, including a meeting with a professionally trained mediator at 8 p.m. last night through which we gained more knowledge of how we ought to calmly and constructively present and handle this situation. That is what led to the cancellation of last night’s meeting and to the email you all received last night, clarifying some of the key points of what was said in Sunday night’s initial email. We, as an Executive Board, apologize to you all for rushing to make a statement after the impeachment without thoroughly considering the full effects of such an announcement.”
