ASG votes down access

DURHAM — A statewide student government organization struck down without debate this weekend a resolution supporting access to community colleges for undocumented students.

Resolution 19 encouraged the N.C. Community College System to admit undocumented students while the system continues to examine the issue.

A UNC-system Association of Student Governments committee defeated the resolution by a vote of three to one with more than half of the members abstaining.

The bill failed with no debate. Attempts to bring the bill up for reconsideration also failed.

The goal of this resolution parallels the mission of the UNC-CH Coalition for College Access which supports universal access to a college education.

The community college system has historically had an open door policy for undocumented students which came under review again in May. The NCCCS has since barred the admission of undocumented students until it further studies the legalities of the issue.

Resolution 19 falls under the association's mission to advocate for students' access to an education at a reasonable cost.

Chazz Clevinger vice president of the committee in which the bill was discussed" said he thinks the reason so few members voted is because they did not fully understand the bill or they weren't sure of their university's stance on the issue.

Clevinger said that the matter should have been discussed further regardless.

""I believe this is an issue that deserves full and vigorous debate because of the vast majority of people it affects"" he said. Clevinger, as vice president, did not vote.

Asha Purohit, a UNC-Asheville delegate and author of the resolution, said the number of abstentions was probably due to committee members' inexperience.

A lot of people were new" a lot were alternates and most of them were making it out as an immigration issue" she said.

ASG President Greg Doucette did not send a copy of the resolution to delegates until early Friday morning, leaving them with little time to prepare or research the issue.

Some members pushed hard to have the resolution heard anyway.

But a motion to have the resolution come before the general assembly of delegates failed by a 19 to 10 vote.

Some, including Speaker of UNC-CH Student Congress Tim Nichols, argued that the committee's decision should be respected. Nichols was one of three to vote against the resolution in committee. He declined multiple requests for comment.

Clevinger said the students were probably driven by their own opinions, not those of their institutions.

It's a shame certain individuals cannot differentiate between student interests and their own individual ideological beliefs"" he said.

UNC-CH student Ron Bilbao, who, as assistant vice president of the committee, was unable to cast a vote, said the issue's unpopularity can cause people to keep quiet.

Bilbao is a member of the UNC-CH Coalition for College Access.

I'm not too surprised by the vote"" he said. But I'm very disappointed.""

Ashley Timmreck" a UNC-Pembroke delegate who opposed the resolution said those who voted against it probably based their decisions on their personal feelings about the issue" as she did.

""The decision we made might not reflect our school" but it most certainly reflects how we feel Timmreck said.

Docuette said he expects the resolution to come up again in January.

I think it was a learning experience and I made it clear to folks that we have some work to do" Doucette said. I'm fine with that as long as in January we come back strong again.""



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