The Isla Vista Party announced the removal of two of its members, both of whom ran for executive positions during Spring Quarter 2018, through social media on Saturday.

In a statement posted on Facebook and Twitter, the party announced that the two members – Associated Students (A.S.) Internal Vice President Steven Ho and External Vice President for Statewide Affairs-elect (EVPSA) Mayela Morales – were removed due to Title IX-related violations and “unprofessionalism that has come to light,” according to the statement.

The two were removed from the party during summer 2018, the statement said. This is the first time the Isla Vista Party publicly announced the decision.

According to Ho, he was first informed of his removal by the social media posts.

“I was unaware of my removal until the statement released by leadership of the party,” he said.

When Ho reached out to party leadership to discuss the matter, he was told “that someone was supposed to talk to me and poor communication within the party resulted in that not happening.”

The Isla Vista Party did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Morales declined to comment.

Morales was disqualified from the EVPSA position after it was discovered she was not enrolled at UC Santa Barbara during Spring Quarter 2018. She currently serves as the Parliamentarian for the A.S. Senate and as the Chief of Staff for the Office of the Student Advocate.

In the statement, the Isla Vista Party (IVP) apologized for not previously announcing the removal of the two members and “for contributing to community members feeling unsafe in student government spaces due to this.”

This is the second instance of separation between parties and high-profile members to occur during winter break. A.S. President Brooke Kopel recently disaffiliated herself from Campus United through a statement on her Facebook page.

She wrote that by doing so, she would “no longer be confined or restrained by the ideologies of a party that would prevent me from truly, genuinely, and accurately representing all students.”

Kopel declined to comment further on her reasoning for breaking away from Campus United.

Sanya Kamidi is an asst. news editor at the Daily Nexus and can be reached at skamidi@dailynexus.com or news@dailynexus.com.

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Sanya Kamidi Sanya Kamidi serves as the Deputy News Editor and before that was a Social Media Manager. Loves coffee and will find any excuse to miss class for the Nexus. She can be reached at skamidi@dailynexus.com or @skamidi on Twitter.