On March 5, Joshua Tanksley HM ’26 and Morgan Pulling HM ’26 shared a petition with the Associated Students of Harvey Mudd College (ASHMC) advocating for the recall of ASHMC President-elect Tessa Han HM ’27 on the grounds of racism and transphobia.
Yesterday, on March 9, Tanksley and Han presented their perspectives on the case in the Hoch-Shanahan Dining Commons Aviation Room. During the speeches, ASHMC sent an email to the Mudd student body, notifying them that they would have until March 17 to vote on whether to recall the election results. If the vote is affirmative, ASHMC will hold new elections.
Han, current Drinkward residence hall president, was elected ASHMC president over two weeks ago alongside running mate Senate Chair-elect Alexa Rosenberg HM ’27, the current president of Case residence hall. Tanksley and Pulling, who unsuccessfully ran for ASHMC president and senate chair last spring, ran against the two in this year’s election.
During last spring’s election, Han made insensitive comments regarding the leadership capabilities of Tanksley and Morgan compared to Aditi Bonthu HM ’26 and Simone Yang HM ’26, the current ASHMC president and senate chair. In a conversation with a friend, Han criticized her friend’s decision to vote for Tanksley and Morgan over Bonthu and Yang.
Han’s criticism involved a comment about Tanksley and Morgan being Black. After the conversation, the friend shared Han’s comment with Tanksley and Morgan.
“Han asked her friend: “Who would you rather vote for: someone qualified, or someone Black?”
According to Tanksley’s petition to the ASHMC executive board, Han asked her friend: “Who would you rather vote for: someone qualified, or someone Black?” Han confirmed that she had made a comment along these lines.
“It can be interpreted as I think Black people aren’t qualified,” Han said in an interview with TSL on March 10. “My question is more about fundamental identity giving you a certain qualification. And I understand that can be interpreted wrongly, though.”
Han also said that she reached out and apologized last spring. She “tried to find both [Tanksley and Pulling] in real life” and said, “When that failed, I believe I sent an email where I apologized for it.”
Han then organized a meeting with Tanksley and Morgan to discuss the situation. In their petition, Tanksley and Morgan described details of this meeting: Han defended herself by explaining that there was context, and that she had made the original comment to her friend because the situation had gotten ”heated.” The petition also said that Han had proposed that both Tanksley and Morgan “were upset because [they] were Black.”
According to Han, after last Thursday’s ASHMC meeting, the executive board sent out meeting minutes to the entire school, which mistakenly included closed-session notes detailing Tanksley’s petition. According to these mistakenly included notes, Han “attempted to engage in a hypothetical to absolve herself” during her aforementioned meeting with Tanksley and Morgan.
These notes reference Tanksley and Morgan’s petition statement, where they allege that in this discussion last spring, Han said: “Would you two be offended if I had instead asked, ‘Who would you rather vote for, someone qualified or someone trans?’”
Han acknowledged that she had made an equivalent comment, but told TSL, “I do not think I said it in that context, nor did I say it in an accusatory way, nor did I say it with the same intent as I said the Black versus qualified person.”
Han said that she “will admit very explicitly” that her comment about Black people was “to make a point about identity and qualification.” She said her comment about Trans people was a way to “work through these thoughts and acknowledge that it would be wrong for any identity [to take precedent over qualification].”
“It was not meant in a problematic or accusatory or personal opinion way,” Han clarified.
Tanksley expressed that when he and Pulling met with Han, she doubled down on her position and said that “there was context that [Tanksley and Pulling] didn’t understand, that her emotions would absolve her.”
“Every attempt to apologize was qualified with some excuse. Not once did she convey that she regretted making that statement. Not once did she acknowledge that her statement was racist,” Tanksley said in his petition. “She was barely able to call it insensitive, and even that she was reluctant to admit.”
Han and Rosenberg voiced their frustration with the unintended publicity of the petition and confidential meeting notes because both “contained language [they] felt was inaccurate” and prompted “cyberbullying” on Fizz, an anonymous 5C social network platform.
“It felt like a very strong oversight that has had very meaningful consequences,” Han said to TSL. Rosenberg added that these statements “have not been corrected.”
At 6:15 p.m. on March 10, around 100 students packed Hoch Shanahan’s Aviation Room, with over 50 spilling out the door to form a crowd outside. Once all the tables were quickly filled, extra chairs were brought in from the dining area and students stood lining the walls or finding seats on the floor.
“I was there at 5:20, and it was still pretty difficult getting a spot,” Isaiah Jeter HM ’26, Black Lives at Mudd (BLAM) member and North Residence Hall president, said in an interview.
Due to high interest, a Zoom was created for those who could not attend in person. Rosenberg shared that the 6:15 p.m. meeting time had been decided without consulting her or Han. She was unable to attend the meeting and “support Tessa” due to a class conflict.
Many students, including Han and Rosenberg, have shared dissatisfaction with the way the forum discussion was organized. In an interview with TSL, ASHMC social chair Sheridon Dorsey HM ’26 expressed concern about the location and timing of the speeches.
“It came across like the school was trying to limit access to this, which, hypothetically, the entire school is voting on,” Dorsey said in an interview after the forum. “So hypothetically, the entire school should have been able to attend, and it would have been impossible for that many people to fit in the room.”
The event began promptly with both Bonthu and Yang introducing the forum as adhering to Article VII, Section 3b of the ASHMC constitution. Each candidate was allowed to present a 250-word statement to the crowd without follow-up questions or comments.
Tanksley stood at the front of the room first, reciting his account of the events and urging the Mudd student body to rethink who they wanted as their president.
“Do you want to be represented by a student who makes prejudiced comments in private? Who is incapable of accepting criticism and unable to reflect on her actions? Who was unwilling to apologize? Who tried to justify prejudice?” Tanksley said, concluding his brief speech. “Tell me, how many of you will justify this behavior as well?”
To this question, the crowd fell silent. After Tanksley broke the quiet with a “thank you,” the room erupted in applause and claps echoed out the door.
During Han’s speech that followed, she acknowledged her actions and outlined her commitment to change.
“I was pretty surprised by Tessa [Han]’s statement because I think a lot of people assumed she was going to deny some of it, deny what was said,” Dorsey said. “So I definitely was surprised that she was taking accountability, and she did apologize.”
After Han’s speech, “like five people clapped,” Dorsey said. “It was very noticeable that everyone was there to support Josh [Tanksley].”
During her interview with TSL, Han said that she was “sorry that these words have had this sort of impact on people.” She added that while “people have described it as cancel culture, I’m not sure I would entirely agree, but I do think it’s being put a little out of proportion right now.”
Han reiterated that her refusal to immediately step down does not indicate that she is “trying to hold onto [her] position with all [she] can.”
“I would like to uphold the processes that the Mudd community before us has implemented and go through with these processes that let the people ultimately make the decision,” she said.
This is a developing story, and will continue to be updated
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