Over the past few weeks, the Undergraduate Students Association
Council’s Budget Review Committee in a historic change
allowed political, religious and other independent organizations to
go through the process of applying for USAC base-budget
funding.
We believe these changes will bode well for campus dialogue and
student government by allowing the widest variety of viewpoints and
values to be expressed while maximizing those with a stake in
student government policies.
This reform did not occur without significant pressure from the
administration.
The administration recommended USAC adopt new guidelines to
allow such groups to be funded without first receiving departmental
sponsorship, a policy most USAC officers opposed during their
election campaigns.
Previously, the administration warned USAC that its budget
policies violated two U.S. Supreme Court rulings and needed to be
changed, but no action was taken.
This policy change is the fruit of the work of many to bring
these policies into line with federal law, which should have
compelled the administration to enforce what many have fought for
both in the courts and out.
Both Bruin Democrats and Bruin Republicans were in the process
of preparing base-budget requests and had expressed willingness to
resort to legal action if these requests were denied on clearly
illegal grounds. The administration, unwilling to defend USAC
actions that were illegal, had no choice but to intervene.
We welcome the change that has come about and greet the revised
budget process with cautious optimism. We hope USAC will cooperate
in implementing these new guidelines in a fair and transparent
manner consistent with the political ideals for which the Bruin
Democrats and Bruin Republicans stand. We hope all independent
groups’ base-budget applications will be treated fairly and
without regard for partisan endorsement histories.
Although there still is much work to be done by USAC and the
independent groups themselves before these groups are integrated
properly into the funding system, the sheer number of applications
is a testament to the fact USAC has made a credible effort to
inform independent student groups of these policy changes.
We want to thank those in USAC whose efforts helped facilitate
new applications. We also commend USAC for extending the
application deadline in order to provide newly eligible
organizations with an appropriate amount of time to submit budget
requests.
The names our organizations carry bring with them a great deal
of civic duty ““ among them the duty to promote political
involvement and information, promote campus institutions that
reflect the values of American democracy, promote calm and reasoned
campus dialogue, and to uphold the law.
Because of these duties we feel an obligation to the community
to take the lead in this matter.
We look forward to working with USAC and the Budget Review
Committee during the upcoming year to help develop a more robust
policy for adjudicating funding properly for student organizations
of all sorts as well as aiding other independent groups in finding
their proper place in the campus community.
Knee is the executive director of Bruin Republicans. Doan is
the president of Bruin Democrats.