On Sept. 13, UTD’s Student Media Operating Board voted to remove Gregorio Olivares Gutierrez from his position as Editor-in-Chief of The Mercury, effective immediately. Director of Student Media Lydia Lum, who called the SMOB meeting to push for Olivares removal, said Olivares violated Student Media bylaws by holding multiple student jobs, causing budget overruns and not allowing her to perform her role as The Mercury’s advisor sufficiently. The Mercury’s management team found Lum provided insufficient reasoning and evidence for all three claims and that Olivares was unfairly removed without being offered remediation or any other alternatives, in a continuation of UTD administration’s punitive and retaliatory actions against The Mercury’s coverage and leadership since the May 1 encampment arrests.

Administration’s previous retaliatory actions include demoting The Mercury’s previous advisor, Jonathan Stewart, a few days after our May 20 publication; Lum prohibiting The Mercury’s management and staff from traveling to student media conferences; removal of The Mercury’s newspapers from our kiosks; and radical, sudden changes to payment structure that harmed members of management.

On Sept. 12, The Mercury’s management team voted unanimously to strike if Olivares was removed as Editor-in-Chief. Our demands are as follows:

1. For Olivares’ immediate reinstatement as Editor-in-Chief.
2. For SMOB to amend its procedures so that anyone in violation of a Student Media bylaw is given an opportunity for remediation instead of immediate dismissal.
3. For the Editor-in-Chief position at The Mercury to be democratically elected by Mercury’s official student members rather than appointed by SMOB.

Unless SMOB meets our demands, the Sept. 16 special issue will be The Mercury’s final publication. Should The Mercury cease publication, our mission to serve news to the UTD community will continue under a new online publication independent of administrative oversight. This new publication will be for students, by students and overseen by a supervisory board of student organizations.

For further details about the Sept. 13 meeting and allegations against Olivares, read our news and editorial articles in The Mercury’s Sept. 16 special issue. To show your support for The Mercury’s demands, become a signatory of this strike statement using this link.