Members of the University of California’s systemwide
student lobbying organization expressed dissatisfaction with
several provisions of a new draft of student government funding,
released by the UC Office of the President, after reviewing the
draft during the past week.
UCOP released its second draft of guidelines regarding student
government funding last week. The office has been in the process of
updating its guidelines since a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court ruling
called for campus student organizations to be funded on a
viewpoint-neutral basis.
Members of the UC Student Association said they had concerns
with several policies included in the draft.
One of the biggest issues is the explicit prohibition of the
allocation of student government funds ““ collected from
compulsory student fees ““ to “non-university political
campaigns” of specific ballot measures and on political
candidates.
The university argues that student governments are university
entities and should not be able to financially support certain
measures or candidates like the UC itself, which is prohibited from
doing the same, said UCSA chairman Matt Kaczmarek.
But, Kaczmarek said, UCSA believes students should be able to
spend money to support their viewpoints.
Both the undergraduate and graduate student governments at UC
Berkeley came under fire during the California’s
gubernatorial recall election in October 2003, when the councils
earmarked $35,000 for a “No on Prop. 54″ campaign.
After the Berkeley administration first prohibited the money from
being used on the campaign, it later allowed the funds to be used
as a “one-time exception.”
Proposition 54 ““ which would have banned the state from
collecting most race-based data ““ was defeated with a large
margin.
UC student government leaders say UCOP’s prohibition is an
“unnecessary restriction.”
“While we were expecting the administration to include
such provisions, it remains unclear as to why the they seek to
limit our ability to obtain a civic education and make an impact on
the issues we care about,” said Jessica Quindel, president of
Berkeley’s graduate student government, in an e-mail sent to
student government leaders throughout the UC.
UCOP spokesman Hanan Eisenman said the office could not comment
on any of the draft provisions until all campuses provide feedback
on the draft. Eisenman said the office expects to comment later in
the spring quarter.
Quindel said the narrow definition of lobbying provided by the
UCOP is hindering students from working on campaigns involving the
California budget that could affect students.
“I would think the university would want us on their side
on these issues,” she said.
The guidelines affect UCLA’s undergraduate student
government on a different level.
An ongoing debate about whether USAC should open its funding to
all student groups ““ including those that are politically or
religiously based ““ was tabled last quarter until the draft
was released.
A proposal to amend council bylaws to open funding to all groups
will be once again brought to the council table, said General
Representative Josh Lawson. Most other UC campus student
governments have opened its funding to all student groups since the
Supreme Court ruling called for funds to be allocated on a
“viewpoint-neutral” basis.
The UCOP draft also calls for student governments to base their
funding on viewpoint neutral criteria in funding groups
“complying with the requirements and procedures set forth in
campus regulations.”
Kaczmarek, also the USAC external vice president, believes USAC
bylaws are not in violation of UCOP guidelines, and they are not
required to open funding to all groups because of that clause.
“We can have restriction of what are officially recognized
organizations; that’s not what viewpoint-neutral is
about,” he said.
Lawson said he will continue to challenge Kaczmarek’s
views.