Student Congress’ enmity towards SDS unwarranted

TO THE EDITOR:

In a Student Congress hearing on Tuesday, the Carolina Review expressed its opposition to funding for the group Students for a Democratic Society to host three speakers via posters and a speech.

The proposed speakers spent two months in Colombia, engaging with farmers and workers living in a war zone, thus accessing vital information rarely examined in the higher echelons of academia, much less presented in mainstream media.

As an international studies student, I realize a predominate area of international study is Latin America, and such information provides a vastly enriching opportunity to these students.

However, when two SDS representatives addressed Congress regarding their relatively meager request, they came under overtly hostile questioning — its precipice when one of Student Congress’ own representatives patronizingly referred to all three of the group’s proposed speakers as “kids.”

Thankfully, other Congress representatives did criticize their colleagues’ obvious political agendas and inappropriate language.

Since then, there has been no consideration to the fact that the same groups proselytizing over their right to free speech and expression not six months ago in regards to former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., are in full force working to abridge this same right to their perceived rivals.

Hypocrisy aside, such attitudes pose a dangerous threat to academic diversity on campus, as certain members of Student Congress, those same people who control funding, are unwilling to set aside their own political beliefs in service of the greater student body.

As leaders of tomorrow, our charge is to learn from the mistakes of the past, not to repeat them.



Julia Etter
Senior
International Studies