The College Republicans’ petition to withdraw UNC from its obligations in the UNC-system Association of Student Governments is a good chance for students to finally voice their opinions on participation in the organization.
The petition asks the Board of Governors to remove the obligatory $1 student fee and absolve UNC-CH from responsibility to participate in ASG. Ten percent of the student body must sign the petition for the measure to reach the ballot.
It’s no secret that this board has been critical of ASG in the past. While the idea of student governments coming together to represent united student body interests is good in theory, the organization has consistently lacked vision and a way to get things done.
Although there are a number of concerns about whether ASG handles its more than $250,000 budget well — the organization receives $1 from every UNC-system student and spends a substantial portion of its budget on member travel fees, hotel rooms and salaries — the main question is whether ASG is democratically legitimate.
The $1 fee was established by the BOG, not a campus-level referendum.
For a student organization that claims to “champion the concerns of students,” ASG is sadly lacking in democratic legitimacy. Although the organization is composed of student body presidents from the 17 UNC-system schools, students should be given the opportunity to directly decide whether they want to be represented by ASG.
ASG’s theoretical goal is to allow student body leaders to represent students’ interests to the BOG, but this is exactly what they were elected to do anyway.
College Republicans Chairman Anthony Dent said he’s confident the petition will pass and that the BOG will listen to what they have to say.
Regardless of how effective the petition is, students deserve a chance to weigh in on their participation and representation in ASG. Democracy works better if you give students the chance to voice their opinions on an issue. Whether it’s a vote on the Union fee increase or a formal — if symbolic — rejection of an ineffective institution, students should be able to decide.
