The Associated Students of Madison's student judiciary announced its ruling Tuesday that the Student Services Finance Committee must rehear the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group's request for funding.
The SSFC originally denied WISPIRG funding for not being in accordance with all of SSFC's eligibility criteria, specifically the bylaw that states at least 75 percent of a student group's beneficiaries must be students.
Student Judiciary Chair Kathryn Fifield said the SSFC interpreted its bylaws unfairly when it denied WISPIRG funding eligibility for not providing services for enough students.
""We felt like SSFC used an unreasonable reading of the term ‘beneficiaries' in the bylaws,"" Fifield said. we also felt that they did not use a plain reading of the term ‘beneficiaries' in the bylaws.""
SSFC Chair Matt Manes said he disagrees with the Student Judiciary's decision. He said the trial should have discussed WISPIRG's complaint that the committee was not viewpoint neutral when making the eligibility decision instead of scrutinizing the committee's vague definition of ""beneficiary.""
""I very much so disagree with it,"" Manes said. ""While we did concede the beneficiary definition, we felt that the case should have be decided on whether or not we provided a viewpoint in trial violation and not necessarily on how clear we were on writing the evaluation forms.""
WISPIRG Chair Rashi Mangalick said the SSFC's ruling was biased, which led to their choice to appeal the decision.
""We decided to petition the decision because we felt they ruled unfairly and were not neutral in their decision,"" Mangalick said.
Mangalick said the SSFC interpreted WISPIRG's direct service to beneficiaries in a non-viewpoint neutral way.
At the initial eligibility hearing, WISPIRG Secretary Allie Gardner cited that the SSFC approved funding for Wisconsin Student Lobby, which provides sources similar to WISPIRG.
The Student Judiciary ruled that, although the SSFC was viewpoint neutral in their decision, it does not appear the committee evaluated WISPIRG differently than the Wisconsin Student Lobby.
After the hearing, Manes said he still feels WISPIRG is not eligible for funding.
Mangalick said WISPIRG is ready to push forward with their appeal for funding.
""We're going to prepare for [the next SSFC] hearing, try our best, and see what happens after that,"" Mangalick said.
