The Associated Students of Madison repealed legislation Wednesday passed by its Diversity Committee that alleged its finance committee and judiciary were prejudiced in denying a multicultural student group funding.
The Student Services Finance Committee denied the Multicultural Student Coalition funding in October after it ruled the group did not spend more than half its time directly serving students.
After the Student Judiciary upheld the ruling, the Diversity Committee passed resolutions asserting errors in the rulings, calling for the removal of the SJ Chief and Vice Chief Justices, creating a committee to investigate prior SSFC and SJ rulings and demanding student council re-hear the group’s eligibility.
MCSC leader Jensen Trotter said SSFC has denied funding for other multicultural groups in previous years and the trend indicates institutionalized discrimination.
“You can’t ignore when somebody says that something is racist against them,” Trotter said. “You can’t ignore when somebody says that they are discriminated against, because that in and of itself is a serious social issue.”
SJ Chief Justice Kate Fifield said the SJ did not discriminate in upholding SSFC’s decision and student council should trust its bodies to rule in an unbiased manner.
“We are so lucky on this campus to have the autonomy and the power that we do and that we have the right to make these decisions,” Fifield said. “What these resolutions represent is a lack of faith by students in their own system.”
Nominations Board Chair Zach DeQuattro said while it is student government’s job to question rulings, the Diversity Committee resolutions call for actions that would violate ASM bylaws.
“It’s not about trust, it has nothing to do with it,” DeQuattro said. “We can’t defile process to fix process.”
