Student Body President candidate Dwayne O’Rear’s campaign manager resigned Monday after O’Rear decided not to apologize to those he offended with his hateful social media posts.  

Alex Canoutas, a junior in international studies and O’Rear’s former campaign manager as of Monday, said he decided to distance himself from the campaign when O’Rear did not follow his advice to “man up” and apologize for his remarks.  

The following is a Q&A with Canoutas in which he discusses why he left the campaign he helped run and what contributed to the downfall of O’Rear.

After students began posting screen shots of O’Rear’s inflammatory Facebook posts and tweets, what was your advice for O’Rear?

“I told him it would be in his best interest to make a public apology, just to man up to his actions and just take fault for what was said. Granted some of the posts were from two years ago but still he offended a lot of people.”

Will O’Rear apologize to those he offended? 

“I talked to Dwayne on the phone earlier today, and I told him ‘Dwayne, the campaign is over, dude. You messed up. You lost so much support. You know that meme of your conversation had 300 shares.’ 

“I just told him ‘It’s over, dude. You need to protect your image and reputation at this school. You need to apologize to get people not to think so lowly of you anymore. If you don’t say anything it’s like you’re standing by those views and you still have them. I’ve been your buddy since freshman year, and I know that’s how you were then, but that’s not how you are now, so you’ve just got to issue a heartfelt apology to let people know that.’”

What was your position with the campaign?

“Dwayne appointed me as his campaign manager.”

Do you still hold that position?

“I told him, ‘I do not feel comfortable endorsing someone who does not apologize for messing up, and for that, I am unable to continue supporting you. You’re still my friend, but I can’t be a part of that. I can’t be affiliated with someone who holds those kinds of negative views.’

“I was getting messages from my friends studying abroad, students here, people who go to different schools, even my mom was letting me know ‘this Dwayne kid is really saying some messed up things.’ I just told Dwayne, ‘I can’t keep getting these messages. I support you as a friend, but this is not good.’”

In your opinion, why should O’Rear issue an apology? What is the importance of clearing one’s image after such a controversy?

“Just having a heartfelt apology and admitting you’re wrong is important. You just have to come clean and man up to your actions and not blame it on having your computer up. I told him, ‘That’s not true, you and I both know. I mean even the Technician knows that you personally know these are wild fabrications, and I agree with them. You’ve just got to man up and apologize.’”

Has O’Rear appointed a new campaign manager?

“That I do not know.”

Were you offended by the comments O’Rear posted?

“Oh, of course. They were very backwards, very hurtful and derogatory. Who wasn’t offended? But they do not represent the current Dwayne.”

O’Rear said this controversy has not hurt his campaign. Is he just living in denial?

“I think he is just trying to pull through. He spent a lot of time and money on this, and I value his determination and perseverance. But I told him, ‘I can’t be affiliated with this anymore. You have offended too many people, and the other candidates have clean slates. I can’t spend anymore time on this.’ 

“I didn’t want to be affiliated with that kind of hate. Some of my gay friends were hitting me up, asking me, ‘Who is this guy you endorsed who is bashing gay people?’ They asked me if I feel the same way, and I said, ‘Absolutely not. I am not at all endorsing these views.’”

How long have you been friends with O’Rear?

“I met Dwayne my freshman year. I’m a junior now, so two years.”

When you were advising him to apologize, were you doing so as a friend or as a campaign manager?

“Both. I told him, ‘You have to clean up your image for this campaign and for yourself, man. You’ve offended so many people. Type your name in Google and this pops up. You’ve got to take care of this and get rid of it. I mean people mess up all the time, and I forgave you. What you said is what you said, but the fact you haven’t apologized is where I have a problem.’ 

“I’ve noticed that he has changed in the past two years. If he had asked me to help him out with a campaign freshman year, I would’ve declined because he was a lot less mature than he is now. But the fact that he won’t own up to this and apologize is what I have a problem with. That’s why I can’t do this.”