Nikolay Remizov resigned as Vice President of International Affairs on Wednesday. In a farewell speech during SGA’s Senate meeting, Remizov claimed that President Marquis Govan threatened Remizov with impeachment if Remizov chose not to temporarily resign. Remizov is now calling for Govan’s impeachment after allegedly receiving this unfair ultimatum.

The alleged ultimatum comes after Remizov reportedly screenshotted and sent a social media repost by Govan to the Jewish Student Association (JSA) group chat on GroupMe. The image Govan reposted on his personal Instagram account was of an Israeli tank with two people standing atop it waving a Palestinian flag. Accompanying the screenshot, Reminzov criticized Govan’s repost. “The voice of all students supporting a non-American position,” Remizov stated in the JSA GroupMe. 

Remizov claims a student came to him about Govan and his social media postings regarding the ongoing Israel-Palestine war. JSA e-board members say they did not instruct Remizov to confront Govan or investigate on their behalf. 

Govan denies any claims of threats or ultimatums and alleges the resignation came as the result of a mutual understanding. Govan did not comment on the reposting of this image, citing an ongoing SGA investigation into the matter. 

In response to some JSA student concerns about the image, Govan posted and responded to students in the JSA GroupMe, saying “I am sorry to hear that my thoughts or some things that I’ve said or posted may have offended folks here. I am always committed to listening, learning and gaining a greater understanding of your perspectives as your elected representative.” 

Govan continued his message by offering to host office hours to talk to any students who were upset by the image he reposted. “I did my office hours in Campus Ministry so that folks could come and talk to me; only a couple of people showed up. And conversations were great, actually,” Govan said in a phone interview with The University News.

Govan reached out to Remizov regarding the screenshot and statements Remizov made about Govan’s social media activity in the JSA GroupMe. According to texts reportedly sent from Govan to Remizov that The University News obtained, Govan stated that Remizov’s actions were “appalling.” Govan continues in the alleged texts to Remizov, “This type of behavior is intolerable and I don’t know why you thought it was acceptable. We need to set up a meeting.”

On Oct. 10, Remizov brought Anastasiya-Mariya Tucheva, a Senator for International Students, to attend the meeting with him. But Govan reportedly insisted on meeting alone, Tucheva claimed.“To ensure transparency, he [Remizov] asked me to accompany him to document the discussions. However, Marquis insisted on meeting VP Remizov alone, which was concerning,” Tucheva said. 

Tucheva received a phone call from Remizov during the meeting and could hear the conversation for about 2 minutes. “It was evident that Marquis was presenting an ultimatum to him,” Tucheva said.

According to Remizov, Govan first insisted that Remizov resign or face impeachment on the grounds that Remizov’s actions in the JSA GroupMe were unacceptable. Govan then allegedly came up with another proposition. Govan reportedly stated that Remizov could resign and then be reinstated after one week, according to Remizov. 

Govan denies giving any sort of one-week ultimatum. Texts reportedly between Govan and Remizov include Remizov referencing the one week period but Govan denies he had knowledge of this agreement.  

“He agreed to resign and he was offered the ability to return to the organization once he worked things out. The texts he unethically shared show my confusion at why he tried to take a one week sabbatical when that’s now what we talked about and I explicitly had made clear to him when that was not possible,” Govan said. 

Govan also denies any allegations of threats made to Remizov of impeachment or expulsion though Remizov cited these in his resignation speech. 

“None of that [allegations of threats] is true. I also think a part of a layer is that one of the common machinations of anti-Black racism is to always construe Black men as being aggressive, unruly and threatening, and I think it’s unfortunate that that has been weaponized to characterize me in a way because of an individual’s personal grievances,” Govan said. “I think that’s history, but I don’t think he gets to lie about what took place or what happened.”

Despite Remizov’s statements, Govan claims he has made attempts to represent and listen to students of all beliefs. “I have been in conversations with JSA and MSA [Muslim Student Association] because I knew from the beginning it was important for us to be having a conversation. My understanding is Campus Ministry is working on ways that we can constructively have conversations about it,” Govan said. 

Still, Remizov and Tucheva are concerned about Govan’s reported behavior. 

“The recent events involving Vice President Remizov have deeply affected me. His interactions with Marquis have raised some alarming concerns,” Tucheva said. “VP Remizov had always made an effort to keep me updated, and he believed that a meeting with Marquis would help find a resolution.” 

After the SGA Senate meeting on Wednesday, Remizov posted a message on his personal Instagram calling for Govan’s impeachment. “The SGA President, who should be the voice of all students, is breaking down the Jesuit ideas and mission of the university. The one who truly deserves impeachment is President Marquis Govan,” Remizov’s post said. 

“It’s not impossible to call for impeachment either. To call for it you need a minimum of 60% of the Senate to vote for it [impeachment], and I’m pretty sure the senators who support this have already passed that percentage,” Remizov said during his interview with The University News. 

Govan does not see any grounds for his own impeachment. “There’s nothing that reaches the form of impeachment because what he said was not true. I believe he knows what he said was not true,” Govan said. 

The allegations made by Remizov, his resignation and the call for the impeachment of Govan are under investigation by the Committee for Internal Affairs in SGA. 

“For anyone who knows, I am quite literally a pacifist. I would never threaten anyone. That is ridiculous to me,” Govan said. 

Due to the ongoing nature of events, Vice President of Communications and Internal Affairs Ryan Tisdale declined an official comment. 

This article has been edited to reflect JSA e-board’s position.