The College Democrats of New Jersey, Led by President Alice Merolli, Have Disenfranchised Muslim Students and Suppressed Dissenting Voices

This statement is written as a joint letter from Seton Hall, Montclair State, Monmouth, and Rider University College Democrats, explaining their disaffiliation from the College Democrats of New Jersey state federation.

On February 28th, 2026, the College Democrats of New Jersey held their annual convention, in which the statewide membership elected the current executive board. Muslim members of the organization had made inquiries about obtaining absentee votes for leadership elections, as multiple students were unable to attend the all-day in-person convention due to observance of Ramadan. This issue was reintroduced to the executive board after the convention concluded, as multiple Muslim members from the Seton Hall University chapter maintained a set of grievances with regard to the execution of the convention's election process.. On March 6th, the chapter President from Seton Hall University was invited by CDNJ President Alice Merolli to present her grievances regarding the denial of absentee votes in a CDNJ executive board meeting. The Seton Hall chapter President was joined in this meeting by the Montclair State chapter Vice-President as a show of solidarity and support. During this meeting, President Merolli requested a private deliberation among executive board members. Within this 37-minute deliberation, the executive board claims they independently verified that Seton Hall had made the request for absentee ballot access before the convention, acknowledged the validity of religious accommodations, and collectively voted to grant ballot access. The reasoning behind the decision arose from the CDNJ executive board’s interpretation of their bylaws, believing there to be a procedural rule that an absentee ballot requested prior to the convention and qualifying for religious accommodation could be approved by the executive board. President Alice Merolli wrote Seton Hall Democrats on March 8th, “Your valid request for an absentee ballot was denied for reasons completely outside of your control, and we would like to rectify that by providing you with the opportunity to vote now… Thank you again, and if you could reply to this email letting us know firstly that you have received these ballots and secondly when you have cast your votes, we would greatly appreciate it!”

On March 9th, four Muslim members of the Seton Hall College Democrats executive board submitted their votes after being provided links to vote in the executive board elections, each of them meeting the criteria set by the CDNJ board for ballot access. Shortly after submission, President Merolli, in consultation with select members of the CDNJ board, wrote back refusing to count three of the four votes, citing a misunderstanding on the part of the board about the ballot submission. The Seton Hall President and Montclair State Vice-President requested a follow-up meeting with the board to resolve the issue and appeal to have all votes counted. When this meeting took place on March 13th, the Seton Hall President was met by President Merolli, Vice-President Andrew LoMonte, and Treasurer Ian Mann, with the remainder of the executive board absent. The board members present stonewalled any discussion of absentee votes, instead centering the conversation on disallowing the Montclair State Vice-President from attending the meeting, keeping her in the Zoom lobby. When the Seton Hall President expressed her discomfort over being in the meeting alone, President Merolli replied, “It’s very important that you understand, for us, we are in no way, shape, or form trying to force you into a conversation that you are not comfortable with. So if you are not comfortable with that condition [meeting alone], then we would never force you into that, of course… We are not forcing you into a conversation.” The Seton Hall President, reiterating her discomfort over being singled out, asked, “So here are my choices, right? It’s either you get the conversation with yourself or none at all?” Ms. Merolli, Mr. LoMonte, and Mr. Mann were unified in their decision that no one else would be let into the meeting despite the Montclair State Vice-President’s involvement in the situation to that point and the Seton Hall President’s discomfort. Treasurer Ian Mann, speaking on behalf of the CDNJ executive board in a later-described call on March 29th, stated that the justification for the Montclair State Vice-President not being allowed in the meeting was that the board unanimously felt “uncomfortable” with her being present. The meeting ended without the issue of absentee votes or religious discrimination being discussed, and the CDNJ executive board claimed they’d reach out for a follow-up meeting at a later date.

Between March 13th and 23rd, the executive board did not reach out to schedule a follow-up. During this period, certain members of the CDNJ board individually spoke with various members of chapter leadership. The contents of these conversations have shed greater light on the nature of the board’s decision-making. The executive board, outside of President Merolli and her inner circle, has received only selective information about the situation as it has unfolded. CDNJ Political Director Juliette Madea told multiple members of our organizations that the reason three out of the four absentee votes would not be counted was that, contrary to the executive board’s initial expectation, they would change the outcome of the presidential election, which neither she nor Ms. Merolli was willing to accept. Ms. Madea told us that, regardless of the board’s previous decision to grant ballot access, we would be forced to accept that the votes would not be counted. Ms. Madea, who attends Rutgers University in New Brunswick, also claimed that the disaffiliation of the Seton Hall and Montclair State University chapters would be irrelevant in a separate conversation with the Rutgers chapter President, who has informed us on this and other matters. Within this upsetting situation, we would like to acknowledge CDNJ Membership Director Joe Viso, who has been the only member of the board to treat our situation with respect and urgency. He is deeply appreciated and has been in consistent solidarity with us.

In this period, leaders from Seton Hall and Montclair State reached out to peers in Monmouth and Rider University, who agreed to disaffiliate from the College Democrats of New Jersey in solidarity. On March 23rd, these four chapters reached back out to the CDNJ executive board, requesting an immediate meeting after 10 days of silence from Ms. Merolli. On March 29th, representatives from Seton Hall, Montclair State, Monmouth, and Rider University Democrats were able to meet with the board and appeal to have the Muslim votes counted. In this meeting, CDNJ Treasurer Ian Mann told us that he used outside sources to verify that the Seton Hall President had only requested one vote before the convention. This comes as a shock to us, as we have talked about the issue of absentee votes for weeks as one affecting multiple Muslim members of the Seton Hall board, and, to our knowledge, no individual involved in the Seton Hall President’s initial request has claimed it was for a single vote. Three members of the CDNJ executive board who have spoken to us about the situation said that they do not know the details of how Mr. Mann conducted this verification. After multiple inquiries, Mr. Mann still refuses to reveal any details of this verification. After the meeting, the executive board decided in a private vote that three of the four Muslim students initially requesting ballot access would remain disenfranchised.

Our initial demand for equal representation for Muslim voices was simple, and we would have never imagined it would reach this point. However, for a month, we have been disrespected, singled out, and minimized as unimportant. We have been victims of stall tactics and apathy by members of the current board. Ms. Merolli has personally made ignorant statements without accountability or apology. These statements include that Ramadan was not a valid excuse to miss the convention. She has also suggested that those who submitted absentee votes were not real Muslims, an idea echoed by Political Director Juliette Madea.

We demand action on this matter. We demand that all four of the Seton Hall Muslim members' votes be counted. We demand accountability. We did not seek public outcry at the beginning of this, but after a month of being treated as though we are insignificant, it is clear that accountability cannot be reached internally. Therefore, the Seton Hall, Montclair State, Monmouth, and Rider University chapters of the College Democrats of New Jersey are immediately disaffiliating from CDNJ until the votes have been counted, and we welcome the remaining seven CDNJ chapters in doing the same.