The Politics Behind the Move to Dismantle Wisconsin’s United Council
Last night brought shocking news for supporters of student involvement in university governance in the United States, as a Republican-controlled budget committee of the Wisconsin state legislature moved — with little debate, and after refusing a stand-alone vote — to eliminate the primary funding stream of the nation’s oldest and most respected statewide student association.
The United Council of University of Wisconsin Students (UC) has been the democratic voice of students in the UW system since 1960, and it has earned a strong reputation for effective advocacy for students’ rights and interests.
Last night’s change to state law, if approved by the full legislature, would bar United Council from funding itself through campus student referenda, as it has done for decades. The move to defund United Council was made with no notice or warning, and comes at the end of a budget process in which United Council worked closely with Republican legislators to enact a two-year tuition freeze (a freeze which ironically was approved in the same omnibus budget proposal as the attack on UC itself).
Where did this assault on UC come from, and why is it happening now? One Wisconsin politics blog reports that
The United Council of University of Wisconsin Students (UC) has been the democratic voice of students in the UW system since 1960, and it has earned a strong reputation for effective advocacy for students’ rights and interests.
Last night’s change to state law, if approved by the full legislature, would bar United Council from funding itself through campus student referenda, as it has done for decades. The move to defund United Council was made with no notice or warning, and comes at the end of a budget process in which United Council worked closely with Republican legislators to enact a two-year tuition freeze (a freeze which ironically was approved in the same omnibus budget proposal as the attack on UC itself).
Where did this assault on UC come from, and why is it happening now? One Wisconsin politics blog reports that
