Clubs clash on social media

Political remarks about Chicano club on campus create tension and fear for members and advisers

Controversy surrounding immigration and the Black Lives Matter movement have ignited tension nationwide leading up to the 2016 presidential election. That kind of vitriol and divisiveness has reached the campus of Pierce College.

A Facebook group titled LA Pierce College Republicans has targeted MEChA de Pierce College, a Chicano group on campus, along with its president and club adviser in an online post that has caused controversy.

“I was shocked at first, but I didn’t really get angry because it’s not uncommon to have such things said, assumed or stereotyped about the club because people don’t really understand what it is,” Angelita Rovero, instructor of Chicano studies and adviser to MEChA de Pierce College, said. “I was shocked to see my name put out there the way it was, and I couldn’t understand why all of a sudden.”

The post on LA Pierce College Republicans’ group page referred to MEChA as a racist Chicano hate group and accused MEChA de Pierce College’s president of “enabling alien invaders” and

A petition for road safety Motor accident prompts daughter to call for act

Monica Galvan, a former student, started an online petition for a turn signal to be placed on Nordhoff between Alabama and Canoga avenues, where her father was killed during a collision with a bus.

Manuel Galvan, 54, was driving home from the gym when a bus hit him after making a left turn. The collision caused him to hit a light pole, throwing him off his motorcycle. The motorcycle overheated shortly after, and a nearby pedestrian pulled him away before it caught on fire.

Monica Galvan started an online petition on thepetitionsite.com in early August of this year. Her goal was to reach 10,000 signatures, but she has now reached more than 12,500, surpassing her goal.

“Once I started to take notice after the accident exactly how the cars were driving, there would be nights that I would be so sad and I would come and sit and watch the cars pass,” Monica Galvan said. “I started to see that there was just no rules. There were rules in place but nobody was enforcing them.” called him the “student leader in chief of the Chicano reqounquista (sic) efforts at Pierce,” essentially saying that he is part of a plan to change the racial makeup of the college.

“Since I’ve been a part of MEChA, there has been constant bullying and we’ve faced a lot of obstacles in trying to do anything at school,” Christian Diaz, club president of MEChA de Pierce College, said. “This isn’t the first occurrence that we’ve had to face, but this is just the most controversial.”

The issue of cyberbullying and intimidation is nothing new, but the republican presidential candidate’s use of social media, such as Twitter, to attack his critics, combined with comments he has made during speeches that seem to passively encourage supporters to act upon their views, may have emboldened some.

“I think these are all things that some people have always felt,” Rovero said. “It wasn’t until Trump was nominated that these people think that it’s OK now to be rude, blatant and disregard, really, the sense of humanity.”

LA Pierce College Republicans are “committed to championing the conservative voice of LA Pierce’s diverse student body promoting sound political action and exposing liberal academic bias,” according to the group’s

Facebook page.

“I’m the one who wrote the claim against MEChA,” Jason Aula, interim president of the LA Pierce College Republicans Facebook page, said. “It’s a controversial issue to challenge MEChA. I think some of the students might find it offensive for obvious reasons, but it’s just an academic thing. Maybe they’re not aware of what’s in the organization they’re supporting.”

Ali Asghar, a Pierce student, was going to be the group’s vice president, but has distanced himself from the group after the controversial posts were made.

“I have no say in that post. Those post (sic) were never reviewed by me,” Asghar said. “If I had an opportunity to view the post, I would not have used professor Rovero’s name because I know her in a professional level.”

Though many of the posts made by the Facebook group may be seen as controversial and inciteful

Determined to reach her goal, Monica Galvan contacted Kacie Montoya, a reporter for KTLA 5 News, who helped her spread the word about the petition. Montoya reached out to her producers who agreed to help Monica Galvan. They filmed her story and aired it later that night, as well as a few times over the weekend.

Airing her story on national television jolted up the signatures almost immediately after.

Monica Galvan’s mission was also on the KTLA news website to raise further awareness, along with a link to where people can find her petition.

Monica Galvan's brother, Manuel Galvan Jr, expressed his thoughts and concerns of the cause.

15, 2016

Monica Galvan did not believe that this would ever happen to her or her family. Her determination to raise awareness, and to prevent this from occurring to anyone else, gave her the idea to start a petition for a turn signal to be placed at the location of her father’s death.

“I thought what everybody else thought. ‘You’re invincible and this wouldn’t happen,’ but it did,”

Monica Galvan said. “If there’s any way to erase imminent danger, I will do that.”

Monica Galvan was not home the night of her father’s accident. However, her mom and brother had been watching the news that night, and saw the accident on TV.

They had not realized it was their father until they noticed he had not arrived home at the time he usually did.

“I am very proud of her strength and determination to see a change, and I hope that no one goes through the pain that we have experienced,” Monica Galvan’s mother, Amelia Galvan, said.

To spread awareness, Monica Galvan began reaching out to friends and family members to help her with the petition.

She began by visiting local areas her father used to frequent.

“I saw a group of bikers and I would ask them if I can get a moment of their time and they were super friendly. The guy heard me out and he contacted his buddies,” Monica Galvan said. “The bike place where my dad bought his bike, they all remembered him. At work, at the gym, everyone loved him, so they were able to spread the word on social media.”

“This petition has already shown how many people support the idea of it, and understand its importance. That intersection is dangerous as it is being so poorly lit, let alone the fact that it has no signal,” he said. “The purpose of this petition is to have a signal installed at that intersection so that another family doesn't have to suffer the loss we have.”

Monica Galvan’s brother added, “Our Father was an amazing man that was ripped from our lives. This could have been avoidable with an implementation of a traffic signal.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), as of 2013 there were 4.668 motorcyclists who were killed in traffic crashes. Only 6 percent less than the year before that. Following that, 88,000 motorcyclist were reported with injuries.

“My dad was very loud and vibrant,” Monica Galvan said. “My family is proud that I took this up.”

Allopez.roundupnews@gmail.com to some, those views are not a part of mainstream conservative politics, according to Asghar.

“I feel a little bit upset because as a registered republican, our party is being blind. It’s being represented in a way that is not true,” Asghar said. “That page was the anterior right on the extreme. I’ve been very clear I’m not a part of that ulterior right.”

Asghar has since apologized in a Facebook post of his own, condemning the material that was published in the group.

“You can see on the website that she put a screenshot of what I said,” Asghar said. “I’ve fought for the Chicano studies students when the accreditation team was here. I spoke in favor for them. When I ran for ASO president, one of my platforms was to increase more Chicano studies classes.” Diaz doesn't believe Asghar’s apology is genuine.

[See MEChA, pg. 3]

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