Associated Students of Madison’s Student Judiciary agreed Monday to approve decisions made in a meeting Sunday which dealt with money cut from a travel grant given to the University of Wisconsin Law School’s Black Law Student Association.
SJ and members of the BLSA debated the Sunday meeting after its legitimacy was called into question. According to a BLSA release, ASM failed to provide sufficient notification for the meeting. As a result, ASM respondents, as well as three justices, were absent Sunday.
UW law student Brandon Vaughn acknowledged the botched meeting.
“There were several lapses in communication between this committee and BLSA,” he said.
SJ Vice-Chief Justice Sol Grosskopf said he was in favor of validating the Sunday meeting.
“Basically, that group was screwed over by SJ and that’s why I’m supporting this,” he said.
According to a complaint filed against ASM by BLSA in the student court, BLSA was awarded nearly $3,700 of a requested $7,400 for an ASM travel grant Feb. 13.
However, the amount was cut to $600 the next day when Student Council members called into question the effects this grant would have on other organizations’ grant requests that had not yet been heard.
BLSA filed a complaint, arguing it was denied equal access and that the decision lacked viewpoint neutrality.
UW-Madison freshman and ASM member Steven Lawrence, among other Student Council members, is being sued by BLSA for viewpoint neutrality violations.
He mentioned the advantages of co-sponsorship, which can benefit multiple student organizations by bringing people and funds together.
BLSA began to negotiate co-sponsorship with the Multicultural Student Coalition to raise enough funds to travel to its national conference, according to Lawrence. However, late Monday night, BLSA released a statement denouncing the Student Services Finance Committee’s decision to cut half of MCSC’s proposed travel grant for BLSA.
The court opinion on the BLSA v. ASM SC case will be released Tuesday or Wednesday, according to SJ Chief Justice Josh Tyack.
