ETSU’s Massive Disappointments

On April 9th, 2021, Mason Mosier won East Tennessee State University’s Student Government Association Presidential Bid. Mosier, who had accepted two five hundred dollar checks from GOP members in Washington and Unicoi county, was given the money for his presidential bid with a catch.

The Johnson City Press wrote in an article from March 8th stating, “Meanwhile, GOP leaders from Washington County and Unicoi County presented East Tennessee State University student Mason Mosier with two checks — each for $500 — at Monday’s meeting. Mosier is running for president of ETSU’s Student Government Association…Washington County Party Chairman Turney Williams said Monday he and other members of the East Tennessee Republican Club will be doing their parts in “fighting liberalism at ETSU” by helping Mosier raise money for his SGA bid in the fall.”

Interestingly, Mosier’s Presidential campaign ran almost entirely opposite of the conservative agenda. Their instagram bio claims that they are running with “Multiculturalism, Innovation, and Unity.”

In October of 2020, ETSU’s SGA was debating on cutting ties with Milligan University over the firing of a gay Professor due solely to their homosexuality. Mosier was quoted around the incident by News Channel 11, stating “I’m a big believer in religious liberty and I’m a big believer that Milligan has a right to decide what kind of faculty that they desire… I think that we need to be supportive of other institutions and their hiring practices.” He continued later in the interview, stating, “listen to the ETSU donors, listen to the ETSU family members, listen to the larger community that this is not something that they want.”

While Mosier told ETSU to listen to the donors in October, the school seriously took his advice in late March. After an extremely divisive season as Head Coach of the Men’s Basketball team, Jason Shay supposedly resigned from his position with the University. His team kneeled for the anthem before playing a game against Chattanooga in February. Almost a week later, rather than the Tennessee State Senators actually doing their jobs, all 27 Republican senators decided to sign a letter requesting Universities across the state to not allow players to protest during the national anthem.

While there was some support from students towards the team’s protest, a large part of the community, especially donors and parts of the local government, were outraged at a group of college students protesting racial injustice. While the school has not stated the real reason for Shay’s resignation, the answer seems obvious. Money kills morals, and ETSU is no exception. As soon as donors cried out, the school caved in.

Rob Dauster tweeted, in response to ETSU players claiming Shay was removed due to the kneeling situation, “They are correct. Jason Shay was forced to resign because he backed them when they took a knee. cc: every recruit in America.” Shay’s daughter, Peija Shay, also retweeted a video where senior guard Jordan Coffin said “For that to be a part in why he has to resign, then I don’t want no part of that.”

At least 7 ETSU Basketball players have requested to transfer from the school in the aftermath of Shay’s resignation. It’s hard to be sure how many potential recruits have also turned down playing in Johnson City due to the mismanagement around the situation from the University. It is an understatement to say that the squad has been shredded by the failure of ETSU to handle the events that have transpired.

President of the University, Dr. Brian Noland, has flip flopped back and forth between the conservative’s viewpoint and the player’s. “Earlier this week at an athletic event, a group of students kneeled during the national anthem, something that has repeatedly occurred on other college campuses across the nation. By no means do I believe that any of our students intended for their actions to be disrespectful to our flag, our veterans, our service members, or their families. However, I recognize the hurt, the pain, and the emotion that been evidenced across this region,” he said during a ETSU Board of Trustees meeting in February.

Mason Mosier has not publicly said anything regarding the incident.

So there the University stood, on the crossroad between caving in to donor pressure and supporting it’s students, and it made its decision. And I personally believe it will be one that haunts the school for a long time. The University now sits with the the chairperson of the Washington County Young Republicans as its SGA President while the senior staff refuse to stand by the players and coach of their own basketball team. It is utterly shameful.

How far might the University go to please the donors and other local influences? Students looking at ETSU will be immediately met with the smear of the hateful, conservative community in the surrounding area. While my time at ETSU has been short, I must admit that the campus is diverse and appears welcoming to all, at least on the surface. Yet as soon as you leave campus, you return to deep red eastern Tennessee.

And what is to be done? How can we protect our diverse, welcoming bubble in the mountains with the student president attempting to fight liberalism and a weak staff that can’t even stand up for its own students?

Mosier calculated his moves very carefully. Similarly to Noland, he did not align himself one way or another, and tried his best to stay neutral long enough to gather enough votes to win the ticket. Certainly now he will relax and quietly push through the SGA motions that decrease liberal and leftist support on campus while his party continues to gripe about cancel culture.

Mosier’s campaign social media accounts deleted any mention of the money he took from the GOP in the comment sections. Rivaling campaigns also failed to spotlight the issue. It really seems that a large number of students who voted had no idea what they were actually voting for.

The Tri-Cities community seriously has to reckon with these issues. Racism is real, and here. Police brutality, homophobia, transphobia, wealth disparity, and so many issues affect many in our community, however few there may be off of the campus. Attempting to simply mute the conversations you don’t want to have is, quite frankly, foolish and illdisposed. The University and Mosier need to realize its student population is incredibly diverse and has a large range of opinions, political and apolitical. Not every student is a carefree Greek Life kid who has never met prejudice in their lives. Many here choose to fight for better conditions for the needy and minorities in our communities.

While I am sure the GOP would love nothing more than to kill any conversation left of center at ETSU, we as a community must not let our concerns and protests be unheard. East Tennessee State University is one of the few glowing conversation starters for those without a voice in the Appalachian Mountains, and it shouldn’t be forced to dim itself under any pretext.