COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—A student panel at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs says the student body president discriminated against a gay and lesbian group by causing a delay in money for National Coming Out Day.
Citing personal beliefs, student body president David Williams neither vetoed nor approved the request by a group called Spectrum for $2,100. That meant the request passed automatically after five school days.
Spectrum leaders said the delay kept the group from buying and distributing buttons for the event in October. It filed a complaint with the nine-member student Judicial Board.
Williams contended that what he did was fair because he didn’t block the funds.
He said the Judicial Board’s decision on Tuesday “chips away at an individual’s right to free speech and free thought” and “demonstrates that a particular group, when offended, can complain and wrongfully get their way.”
Williams said he no longer feels safe exercising his First Amendment rights and will hire a lawyer.
Senior Jack Student has drafted a recall petition to remove Williams from office. A recall requires signatures of 10 percent of the student body, roughly 800 students.
Estivins Campos, vice chief justice of the Judicial Board, said articles of impeachment also could be brought against Williams by a student government association member.
“Funding an organization should not be dependent on viewpoint. He’s abused his position of power,” Spectrum co-chair Crystal Duckhorn said. “It caused students to feel unsupported and unrepresented by their student government.”
The school mandates that student leaders be objective in making funding decisions using activity fees and that those fees be distributed equally to student clubs and groups. Activity fees amount to $120,000 to $140,000 collected from students annually.
Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak issued a letter Tuesday to the student government association calling for a three-year audit of student activity fee expenditures and a review of the student constitution and bylaws to determine if they are in compliance with U.S. Supreme Court rulings on student activity fees.
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Information from: The Gazette,
