COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—The head of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs has reversed her ruling that a student leader violated nondiscrimination rules when he refused to formally approve funds for a gay and lesbian group’s event.
But Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak said she still found the actions of then-student body President David Williams “troubling.”
Williams neither approved nor vetoed a request from a group called Spectrum for $2,100 for a National Coming Out Day event last fall. Williams allowed the funding to go through without his signature.
Spectrum represents gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students. In a message to the Student Senate, Williams said if he signed the request, he would be signaling approval of Spectrum, but that he disagreed with the group’s “message and agenda.”
Shockley-Zalabak said in December that Williams had violated Student Government Association rules requiring student leaders to be objective and nondiscriminatory about funding.
Williams appealed to the Board of Regents, which declined to hear the matter and instead sent it back to Shockley-Zalabak.
Last week, Shockley-Zalabak issued a statement saying Williams’ decision to let the funding go through without his formal approval didn’t cause any delay in the funding. She said the evidence was insufficient to conclude he broke the rules.
But she said Williams did “engage in viewpoint-discriminatory conduct” and repeated her assertion that his actions were “troubling.”
Williams told The Associated Press Wednesday he feels vindicated by the new ruling but “I just wish it had come sooner.”
He lost his re-election bid in April and blames his defeat on the controversy. His term ended June 1.
Williams, 22, expects to graduate in December. He announced in May he will run for a seat on the El Paso County commissioners.
