Boca Raton House Representative Augustin Gervasio faces criticism among House members after questioning the qualifications of newly appointed Associate Council of Student Organizations Director Olivia Catino.

Gervasio vocalized against Catino’s credentials during a June 20 House of Representatives meeting, citing Catino’s involvement with the LGBTQ+ student organization Lavender Alliance. The House considered a censure, a formal disapproval against Gervasio, but the motion failed on July 11. Gervasio still hasn’t apologized after being asked to.

“I believe that she will support [LGBTQ+] activities from a leadership position, since I believe it’s wrong and destructive,” Gervasio said during the June meeting. He added that his concern was that her beliefs had “seeped into her professional environment, where she has started a club promoting that ideology.”

Secretary of the House, May Rojas, defended Catino during the meeting. Rojas believes the comments made by Gervasio violated the principle of merit-based hiring. 

“A sentiment was shared by the House as we had a resolution next week to enforce her merit-based hiring within the House, and it was voted on unanimously,” Rojas said to the University Press.

The House confirmed Catino by a 12-1 vote. Gervasio was the only vote against her.

Prior concerns

This isn’t the first time Gervasio has sparked controversy. His comments in a May 30 meeting about illegal immigrants committing crimes against Americans drew the ire of multiple representatives.

“Illegal immigrants have committed crimes to thousands and thousands of Americans, including unspeakable acts,” Gervasio said in the meeting.

Rep. Raymond Adderly responded by comparing crime rates among immigrants to those of American citizens. According to statistics from the American Immigration Council, immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born citizens.

Speaker of the House Elijah Roberson stopped Gervasio and Adderly amid concerns that the commentary might escalate but later allowed them to continue their discussion during the meeting.

Gervasio declined to comment on this meeting to the University Press and has made no public statements about his comments. 

Moving forward

“I request a formal apology from Representative Gervasio, said to both me and the House of Representatives,” Catino said in a July 11 statement. She added that she only wants an apology, which Gervasio has yet to provide. 

Gervasio has not issued a public apology for his comments.

Catino said she would fully support a censure, a formal way to express disapproval of a member’s actions or behavior publicly. The House held a vote on a censure against Gervasio during their July 11 meeting, but it was not passed. 

During the July 11 meeting, Rojas read a statement from Catino. In the statement, Catino said she was disappointed by Gervasio’s comments, especially as the meeting marked her introduction to Student Government.

“Gervasio questioned my authority, asking me if I would do so given my personal beliefs and if I would exclude clubs that don’t align with my views.” Catino wrote. “While I do hold these personal beliefs, these organizations exist at FAU as a safe space for those students who have different views,” Rojas said, reading Catino’s statement in the July 11 meeting.

“Representative Gervasio willingly made false assumptions about my character because I stated I created an organization … his commentary was entirely unprofessional, disrespectful, and discriminatory,” Catino wrote.

In a July 21 email to University Press, Gervasio stated that he was satisfied with the outcome of the censure vote. 

“I congratulate the Student Government for choosing to protect viewpoint diversity,” Gervasio wrote. “We can all be proud that groupthink has no home in our Student Government.”

Anthony Ortiz is a Contributing Writer for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, email Ortiz at ajangus1331@gmail.com.