Letter: Student Senate not above First Amendment
Posted: 4/20/07
04/20/07 - To the Cigar,
It is said in the First Amendment "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…"
I say this, if the Congress of United States cannot prohibit free speech and therefore impose and sanction speech of any person, why can the powers that be in the Student Senate Inc. at the University of Rhode Island have any right to impose their own laws that defy that of the U.S. Constitution?
I would like to make a case about the oversight into the practices of the Student Senate.
I condemn what has happened and use this as legal precedence for any state-run university. The University of Rhode Island should practice caution not to have a Student Senate that disregards the university that gives it its livelihood, space, and student fees and tuition that pay for its very existence.
The Student Senate has too much power and autonomy. So much so, it apparently is the supreme decision making authority at the University of Rhode Island. The power of the few in power makes the decisions of the many at our school. Is that justifiable? What about the administration at the University of Rhode Island who never question why or what kind of student governing body exists who has disaffiliated itself from the University of Rhode Island all together?
If this so-called Student Senate Inc. has publicly stated it is not affiliated with the university, and therefore does not have to answer to the University of Rhode Island, then you have to ask and wonder what kind of student body practices and governing really happens behind closed doors at the University of Rhode Island? Does anyone question the actions of these senators? Who are they and what powers do they actually have?
Apparently, the president of URI, the administration at University of Rhode Island and any other student organization for that matter is subordinate to the Student Senate. However, the Student Senate answers to no one. Evidently they can even disregard and ignore President Robert Carothers' injunction. They as an entity can disregard, defy, and derecognize anyone and anything that they see fit without incrimination. Is that what the University of Rhode Island allows to happen? Better yet, legally can this occur? I've come up with an answer. It is in fact not a senate, it is an oligarchy.
Oligarchy - where political power effectively rests with a small, elite segment of society or governing body. The word oligarchy is from the Greek words for "few" and "rule."
My point is this. The current student body (and any previous student body) has no authority and never had the authority and any legal standing to obstruct the free will and rights of any student organization. Nevertheless, this is an authoritarian student body. It has its own executive and judicial body within itself. Who are these officers who render decisions and how do they have such power and can they commit such actions?
One would have to question the ability for an independently run but fully funded institution to reprimand and derecognize a student organization from using free speech. Not only does this serve as precedence to never impose coerced speech, but we are dealing with unconstitutional authority for any independent student body within the guise of a public university to take unlawful and egregious actions towards any student organization.
What the University of Rhode Island College Republicans did was within the legal scope of state and federal statute of protected speech. What the Student Senate, or shall we say the Student Senate "fully independent from University of Rhode Island authority" Inc., did something unconstitutional and federally illegal by imposing forced and coerced speech. I am disgusted that the Student Senate had the audacity to restrict free speech; no entity should ever have the authority to dominate over groups and impose on their rights to practice freedom of speech. How dare any Student Senate or governing body even attempt to defy what is inherent and protected speech.
The College Republicans did what was within the parameters of their right to free speech. Political and free speech can never be silenced by anyone. It seems that the views of any one person or organization(s) that defy or conflict with the views of THIS SENATE can be derecognized. Is that fair? Is that right? Is that moral? Is that constitutional? The answer is emphatically NO!
This senate is not democratic in nature-it is oppressive in nature! You have to ask yourself, who really is in power and are we subject to their own biases and personal opinions? Should this solely be in the hands of few that govern us all by representing their own views or biases? In my opinion, that is unconstitutional!
I propose the creation and enactment the Student Organization Freedom Act of 2007 (SOFA) or the Student Organization Freedoms, Speech and Liberties Act (SOFSLA) for the University of Rhode Island to recognize existing and new organizations so the Student Senate never has the power to derecognize any organization again and use as precedence for every public college to follow in example.
James Francis Wendell
© Copyright 2007 The Good 5 Cent Cigar
