The judicial body of University of Wisconsin’s student government ordered a temporary injunction Tuesday on the Associated Students of Madison taking up a contentious item ordered by interim Chancellor David Ward.
The Student Judiciary voted unanimously to place a temporary injunction on ASM Student Council taking up a hearing for Multicultural Student Coalition’s budget eligibility, which Ward mandated the council do in a letter Sunday.
About three weeks ago, MCSC appealed to Ward for funding eligibility, arguing Student Services Finance Committee violated viewpoint neutrality when it originally denied the group eligibility.
Ward’s decision letter released Sunday said that no viewpoint neutrality violation occurred, but that a mistake in ASM bylaws’ definition of “viewpoint neutral fashion” meant that MCSC’s eligibility hearing should have originally been remanded to Student Council, not SSFC.
In his letter Ward said that as a result of this bylaw error, he was both ordering that ASM correct its bylaws to have the proper language in addition to remanding MCSC’s eligibility hearing to Student Council to be addressed within five school days.
SJ’s injunction is temporary and will remain in effect until Ward releases a written decision delineating specific violations of viewpoint neutrality violation independent of ASM bylaw interpretation, SJ Chief Justice Kate Fifield said.
She said the injunction is motivated by the need to make clear that Ward had no authority to hand the decision back to Student Council and override SJ’s decision.
“ASM is the independent student government on this campus. We make and enforce our own rules … and we have the authority to go about that business without interference from the administration of this university,” Fifield said. “This (injunction) tries to put it down on paper that the Student Judiciary is the final arbiter of ASM disputes and that the chancellor can’t step in and undo that.”
Fifield said she met with Dean of Students Lori Berquam and UW Legal Counsel Nancy Lynch Monday along with SSFC Rep. Cale Plamann and chair Sarah Neibart to discuss Ward’s decision. She said Lynch said the university is responsible for the defensibility of funding systems on campus, but that she disagreed with her because the sole authority to interpret ASM bylaws should lie with SJ.
She said major drawbacks of the injunction include that it is practically unenforceable and that “in all likelihood this would be purely symbolic.” She said it could also make ASM look divided if Student Council decides to take up the eligibility hearing anyway. But, she said, she sees it as the only defense against an increasing ease in people looking at SJ as merely an advisory body.
Associate Justice Nick Checker said he agreed at the necessity of the injunction, arguing Ward had no authority to make the decision he did.
Fifield said she expects Student Council will go ahead with the hearing despite the injunction, but that the injunction is important for precedent and affecting future SJs.
