The Southworth Supreme Court case changed student fees

By CHRISTOPHER J. ORTIZ
The Rocky Mountain Collegian, Colorado State University
 
Most of you know enough about student fees to know they fund things like athletics, Hartshorn Health Services and the Student Recreation Center, but did you know that your student fees have also gone to Holocaust Awareness Week, Action Awareness and Student Organization for Gays, Lesbians and Bisexuals events, organizations that some students on campus may not agree with?
Do all students agree with funding a student organization that stages "hunger strikes" opposing the war in Iraq, or organizes gay pride events? Probably not, but students do not have a voice, directly, on what their student fees go toward.
Scott Southworth was a student at the University of Wisconsin during the year of 1995. Like most other universities, UW students paid student fees to fund student organizations. That year, the school gave $150,000 to International Socialists, the Militant Student Union, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Campus Center and the feminist Campus Women's Center.
Scott Southworth felt it was unfair that his fees were being used for causes he didn't support. He took the issue to court and the issue found itself in the U.S. Supreme Court.
The outcome of Southworth vs. The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System changed how student fees are allocated on campuses.
Before the Southworth case, campuses used referenda to decide how student fees were spent. If athletics wanted a 2 percent increase, students would vote on the issue. If a student organization, such as Action Awareness, wanted to continually be funded, its members could get enough signatures to put the issue into referenda for students to vote on. If a majority of students voted in support of the issue, Action Awareness would be guaranteed a portion of student fees.
The Court ruled on UW side, allowing public universities to collect mandatory student fees without violating students' rights.
"The First Amendment permits a public university to charge its students an activity fee used to fund a program to facilitate extracurricular student speech if the program is viewpoint neutral," Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the Court, according to an Associated Press story by Richard Carelli.
Carelli continued by summarizing that the justices upheld UW's student-fee system after concluding it did not pick and choose which student groups to fund based on views. The Court ruled that referenda would be unconstitutional and would cancel viewpoint neutrality.
The Student Fee Review Board oversees the allocation of student fees at CSU. The group makes suggestions to changes in the student fee structure.
The Raptor Center fee is an example of a fee created by student referenda. The center is now under SFRB and is guaranteed funding every year.
Linda Kuk, vice president for student affairs, said SFRB is "very conscious (of the student fee structure), accountable and have the best interest for students."
Though she is unsure that members of SFRB are contacting their constituents, the system as it stands now works in the interest of the students. She said the board is not a rubber stamp group and thus does not always approve every request presented in front of them.
Individual student organizations that wish to receive funding go through the Student Funding Board to request money from ASCSU's portion of student fees.
SFB uses a viewpoint neutrality stance when student organizations request money. Some of the criteria are the services' and programs' relation to the organization's purpose, the organization's ability to effectively use the student activity fee, the number of students involved in the organization's past activities and the program's potential for direct student involvement.
Kuk recognizes not all students agree with how student fees are distributed and suggests those who feel this way contact the student government and become involved in the process.
Given the apathy on our campus, it's a good thing referenda was done away with. If a radical student organization got enough signatures, apathy would give way to student organizations with minority viewpoints receiving more student fee money than they probably deserve.
Also, having funding boards that use viewpoint neutrality allows student organizations to fund programs and events, and diversify what we are exposed to on campus.
It allows student organizations like Holocaust Awareness, GLBT and other diverse student organizations to bring and produce events on campus that can benefit anyone, whether everyone agrees with them or not.
If you want to know more about the student fee structure at CSU, Vice President Kuk is hosting "Understanding Student Fees" session from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday in the ASCSU Senate Chambers.

Chris is the opinion editor for the Collegian. He is a senior majoring in journalism.