CV NEWS FEED // A local Democratic Party activist has been dismissed as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) director at a Catholic high school in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
According to the Grand Rapids Reporter, Tim Marroquín chairs the Ottawa County Democratic Party’s Latino Caucus and “has been outspoken in favor of left-leaning causes in West Michigan.”
The activist “led a ‘DEI’ work group at Catholic Central High School that included 14 school teachers.”
The Reporter indicated that shortly following his “resignation” Marroquín “assumed the role of Director of Education at the Hispanic Center of Western Michigan.”
In addition, the Reporter noted that the 55-year-old “previously spent nine years working in similar ‘DEI’ roles at Grand Valley State” in nearby Allendale Charter Township.
In July of last year, when he still was serving in his capacity as Catholic Central’s DEI director, Marroquín publicly used racial language to mock Republican Ottawa County Commissioner Lucy Ebel, who is Mexican-American and Christian.
“Despite speaking for over three minutes, at no time did Lucy Ebel, ‘the first duly elected Christian Conservative Latina,’ identify, proclaim or advocate for the Hispanic/Latino community, culture, or people, much less her brown self,” Marroquín wrote in a July 2023 Facebook post, as reported by the Holland Sentinel.
In the same post, he also accused Ebel’s supporters of “Fear mongering and Christian nationalism, dressed up in red, white and blue, with an accent over the é.”
The former Catholic school official is also a well-known advocate for pushing so-called “diversity” books on schoolchildren. Again from the Reporter:
In 2020, Marroquin gave a presentation to the “Lake Shore Ethnic Diversity Alliance” in Holland on how to replace books written by white authors in school classrooms with “diverse books” that de-emphasize white characters.
In 2017, Marroquín ran for Ward 3 of the Holland, MI city council. In an interview with The Holland Sentinel, he explained his commitment to “inclusion and equity.”
“It has to do with socioeconomic status, religion, identities related to sexual orientation — taking advantage of all the talent and skills we have collectively but maybe haven’t realized yet,” he said at the time. “I would like to help bridge that.”
Marroquín was challenging incumbent City Councilman Brian Burch (no relation to the CatholicVote president of the same name).
Both Marroquín and Burch lost the August 2017 primary election in a landslide to the race’s third candidate, Raul Garcia.
Garcia romped to victory with nearly 70% of the vote. Burch finished second with 15.9% of the vote. Marroquín meanwhile came in a distant third with only 14.5%.
