SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Springfield school board voted to unseat the current board vice president after controversial remarks were made at a student session last week.

Vice President Maryam Mohammadkhani was voted out of her seat by a vote of 4-3 from members of the Springfield school board.

This comes after controversy surrounding an event at Missouri State University where Mohammadkhani was accused of interrupting a conversation on racial trauma at the Youth Empowerment Summit on February 23.

According to Missouri State University’s website, the Youth Empowerment Summit (YES) is a single-day conference to help advance the achievements of Springfield High School students and help them gain access to higher education.

According to the Springfield News-Leader, during an exercise run by the director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Burrell Behavior Health, Marquisa “Keke” Rover, encouraged students to quietly reflect on their experiences with racial trauma by closing their eyes and raising their hands.

Rover reported to the students that ‘most hands went up’ which Mohammadkhani challenged saying it was only just a part of the room.

According to the News-Leader’s report, board member Shurita Thomas-Tate said the interruption led to students feeling upset stating, “the students were saying ‘Why does that even matter if 10 people or everybody raised their hand? I raised my hand.'”

The board says it’s been fielding complaints from students and parents since it happened last Thursday.

Mohammadkhani has been replaced as vice president by Scott Crise.

Board members said a new vice president of the school board will be elected following the April 4 election.