The University of Missouri has cancelled student elections after three candidates dropped out of their respective races after they were exposed for posting racist messages on Twitter, the SF Gate is reporting.
According to the report, presidential candidates Blaine Thomas and Claire Jacobs dropped out of the race Tuesday, with vice-presidential candidate Caius Gillen dropping out on Wednesday after a student journalist publicized racist, sexist and homophobic tweets from their Twitter accounts.
The report notes that the offensive tweets were posted between 2012 and 2016, and that eac of the former candidates have released apologies after the revelations this week.
The news comes on the heels of a report that current Student Government Association Chief Information Officer Richard Garcia’s Twitter account featured posts including hate speech and racial slurs from 2013 and 2014, including the use of the N-word 232 times.
According to the report, the election was cancelled because candidates run on a slate and the loss of a running mate disallows proceeding with the election.
"By changing the names on the ballot, they have nullified this support as these students did not sign on to an individual candidate," explained a statement from the student court.
The school is looking to set up a special election in the near future.
