The University of Wisconsin student government voted to include a referendum to gauge campus opinion on the proposed Union renovations as two members who were formally removed from the body yesterday remained at the meeting table.

The contentious proposal to renovate the historic Memorial Union, which has sparked a passionate response from students on both sides of the issue, drove much of the debate, while Vice Chair Beth Huang’s removal from office by Student Judiciary will be taken up in a special session Friday.

Huang said she and Nominations Board Chair Niko Magallon were caught actively campaigning in Witte Hall in March during the run up to spring Associated Students of Madison election.

Student Judiciary ruled in a suit that both officials would log 20 hours of community before Sept. 15 for the bylaw violation. Huang reported the vice chief justice said the records of the work were not received on time, so the two representatives were removed from office.

Huang said Chief Justice Kate Fifield authorized a stay of the ruling until the matter is up for review tomorrow, at which time the judicial body will rule on whether to extend or terminate the stay.

In an open forum that spanned several hours, student speakers called on ASM to place the referendum on the Oct. 16 fall ballot, saying the project was lacking in sufficient opinion from the student body moving forward.

Speaking against bringing the controversy to a student vote were representatives from Hoofers, a student organization that boasts hundreds of members in various clubs for outdoor recreation, who said the time taken for a poll would place a limit on student access to facilities during the construction period.

Erik Oberhart, a member of Hoofer Council, said the current timeline set for the project means the group would lose one summer season of lake access near the Union.

He said if the issue is placed on the ballot, outdoors enthusiasts risk losing out on an additional whole season as construction crews and machinery dominate the shoreline.

“This denies access for thousands of students and jeopardizes UW’s largest student organization,” Oberhart said.

Representative Cale Plamann said the Union Council was not listening to student input on the proposal outside of committees.

He also said the project could impact how much students are paying in segregated fees, although the original referendum said renovations would be partially offset by money from donors.

“You can shift money around all you want,” Plamann said. “If we’re going to have something that wasn’t originally justified and will cost students money, it would be a shame to not have the general student population vote.”

The Council voted 14-10-2 to include a referendum on the fall ballot.

Student Services Finance Committee member David Vines also polarized debate by calling into question whether the waiver form required of student organizations with budgets over $250,000 was viewpoint neutral in the case of the Multicultural Student Coalition, the only group that applied.

When he said the legality of the process would go to Student Judiciary, SSFC members in attendance reported Vines had been involved in crafting and final approval regarding the wording used on the form.