- A Tennessee school board member called a minor female student "hot" during a meeting
- Keith Ervin also placed his arm around the student, sparking public outrage
- Ervin defended his actions, claiming he was praising her questions and performance
A school board member in the US state of Tennessee is facing intense public backlash with calls for his removal after he called a minor female student "hot" during a meeting. On Thursday (Apr 2), during the meeting that was live-streamed on YouTube, Washington County school board member Keith Ervin not only called the teen "hot" but also placed his arm around her, much to the horror of parents and community members.
"God, you're hot, you know that? Where do you go to school at?" Ervin can be heard asking the girl who was attending the meeting to present her research. The minor told him she attends Crockett.
As the controversy snowballed, Ervin issued a statement defending himself, stating that his actions were taken out of context.
"I had a student board member beside me, and we was talking, and she got up and was asking questions, and [she] just thoroughly impressed me and the other board members," Ervin was quoted as saying by People.
"I was. She was a top-notch student board member, and she was asking real smart questions. And I reached over, and I touched her on the shoulder, and I said, 'You're hot. You're you're good. You're one of the best I've seen."
Ervin said he did not mean anything by his actions and that he was bragging about the student as she asked good questions during the meeting.
"She was just, she was on fire. She asked good questions, and I was bragging about her," Ervin said.
The Washington County Board of Education will be holding an emergency meeting on Wednesday (Apr 8) to discuss Ervin's "grossly inappropriate comment".
Board chairperson Annette Buchanan said she hoped that the board would consider and approve a motion to censure Ervin for his comment.
"Mr Ervin knows his own intentions, but the rest of us have to judge his words and his actions. What we saw was shocking. He objectified and diminished a young woman publicly. No explanation can justify that," said Buchanan.
