The U.S. Supreme Court announced on Monday it will hear an October lawsuit brought by three University of Wisconsin-Madison law students concerning the use of student fees.
Southworth vs. Grebe, first filed in 1996, contests the right of UW-Madison to allocate mandatory student fees for student organizations.
Southworth successfully sued the school on the basis that "it was a breach of the freedom of speech for a part of a student's fees to go to groups which they [the students] morally disagree with," according to Eric Brakken, chair of the association of the students of Madison, the campus student government.
"We feel this is a detriment to the promotion of education on campus," Bob Hemauer, a member of the Student Labor Action Committee, told The Dartmouth. "There is no defined boundary between political and social speech. This is a dangerous situation, in terms of protecting free speech for the campus forum."
"Student fees create an educational forum which is central to upholding the educational mission of the university," Brakken said.
The Alliance Defense Fund, a conservative organization that advocates Religious Right causes, is paying the legal fees for Scott Southworth, former UW law student, who is the lead plaintiff in the case.
Similar cases have arisen at the University of Oregon, University of California-Berkeley, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Virginia, State University of New York, and Rutgers College.
So far, only the UW-Madison case has received judiciary support for the plaintiff, although most cases have not yet been decided.
"In the whole scheme of things, the fact that the student organizations are losing is the anomaly," Brakken said, "The overwhelming precedent is in favor of the student fee."
Although Dartmouth, as a private institution, is not legally responsible for implementing the upcoming Supreme Court rulings, the College is "reviewing its processes and procedures [for allocating student funds] in light of these [legal actions]," according to Holly Sateia, dean of student life.
Dean of the College Dan Nelson formed a committee in early January to examine the College's mandatory student fee policies. So far, they have met only once, before the Supreme Court announcement.
"We're a private school. Different constitutional requirements apply to us," Assistant College Counsel Allegra Lubrano said. "On the other hand, Dartmouth has always tried to afford the same constitutional protections that public schools offer."
Each Dartmouth student pays $40 per term in their tuition to the mandatory student fees fund.
Currently, for the 2000 fiscal year, out of the $475,000 budget funded by mandatory student fees, the College gives $230,000 to the Programming Board and $76,300 to the Council On Student Organizations [COSO]. The rest is divided between such organizations as athletic departments, the Office of Residential Life, the Coed Fraternity Sorority Council, the Hopkins Center and Student Assembly.
The Undergraduate Finance Committee, comprised of 15 students from various areas of campus, determines the allocation of student fee resources upon presentations made by recipient organizations.
Of these organizations, Lubrano said, "I'm sure some people would find some of them controversial."
Political organizations such as the Young Democrat and Young Republican clubs are represented by COSO.
However, "Organizations that might be considered political have to follow the guidelines set by COSO [for COSO funding]," Sateia said, "Their activities are focused on educational programming on campus, for example bringing in speakers."
Under COSO rules, organizations cannot receive funding for any activities having to do with a political candidate.
However, organizations are free to raise funds themselves to campaign.
