Students: leaving ASG could hurt UNC’s influence

UNC-CH students will vote Friday on whether to remain members of the Association of Student Governments — the only student organization that has a seat on the UNC-system Board of Governors.

The vote will not directly determine whether or not the University leaves ASG, but rather gauge student opinion about ASG and UNC-CH’s role in the organization.

All 17 UNC-system schools are members of the ASG, and monthly meetings are held at the universities to discuss various issues, such as voting rights and tuition. Students pay a $1 fee every year that goes to the ASG.

John Guzek, speaker pro tempore for Student Congress, said UNC would still be a member of ASG for the rest of this year.

UNC-CH’s government leaders — Student Body President Christy Lambden and Speaker of Student Congress Connor Brady — have been critical of the ASG since its last meeting, calling it useless.

But some UNC-CH student activists have concerns about losing their voice on the BOG.

Ana Maria Reichenbach, a UNC alumna and member of the student advocacy group N.C. Student Power Union, said she worries the plan to leave ASG is misguided.

Reichenbach said she agrees that the ASG has been inefficient in the past, but leaving is the wrong way to handle UNC-CH’s issues with the group.

“UNC needs more representation instead of less as the place closest to the BOG meetings,” she said. “That’s why we started Student Power to begin with — students have to resort to other ways to get their voices heard.”

In addition to addressing student issues, the ASG sends one non-voting representative — currently ASG President Robert Nunnery — to BOG meetings to deliver student input.

The BOG has made controversial decisions this year regarding gender-neutral housing, tuition and the shortened drop/add period.

Olivia Sedwick, senior vice president of ASG, said the student representative’s seat was only created within the past two decades.

“ASG’s main role is to be the student voice for the collective UNC-system student body on issues concerning them,” Sedwick said.

Despite being the only direct student link to the board, questions of efficacy have plagued the ASG in recent years.

No resolutions were passed at the ASG’s October meeting.

Guzek said meetings like this used to be the exception, but are becoming the norm.

“Flawed institutional design impedes ASG’s effectiveness. These rules and procedures should be designed so that everyone has a voice, instead they are impeding the process,” he said.

Guzek said student advocacy is a crucial issue to student government members and that the University will not lose its voice in student advocacy this year.

Student Congress member Austin Root said leaving the ASG would be a leap of faith.

“ASG change comes from within — if we have no one on the executive board, we will continue to get the same results,” Root said.

“The most powerful form of advocacy the ASG has is sitting on the BOG and that costs zero dollars.”

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