The Berkeley College Republicans may be stripped of their student government funding in order to divert the money to the Black Students Union. The Associated Students of the University of California say the reasoning for the proposed budget change is because of the organization’s involvement in Free Speech Week 2017.
Last Wednesday, ASUC student senator Rizza Estacio introduced an amendment to the proposed budget, which would eliminate $1,000 in funding from the Berkeley College Republicans and instead allocate it to the budget for the Black Students Union.
This move would effectively strip the Berkeley College Republicans of all of their funding for an undetermined period of time. According to Estacio, the organization isn’t deserving of the money.
“[Berkeley CR’s] have violated a lot of lead center rules during free speech week,” Estacio claimed. “There are a lot of organizations that could really use this funding.”
Following Estacio’s proposal, several fellow senators expressed their disbelief at the idea that a state university funded by taxpayers could openly discriminate against student organizations.
“I am not a Republican, but this is the baseless and woeful targeting of an organization,” said student senator Megha Torpunuri, in response to the proposal. “We should not be going back due to baseless targeting.”
The Berkeley College Republicans released a statement pointing out that they did not organize Free Speech Week 2017.
“The backdrop of this proposal is based on a complete falsehood: BCR was not involved in any capacity with the planning and organization of Free Speech Week. Rather, it was the Berkeley Patriot, a different student organization, that was behind the aforementioned event,” said Naweed Tahmas, the External Vice President of the Berkeley College Republicans.
“It is deeply concerning that the ASUC may strip BCR of its annual allocation due to spurious reasoning and misinformation. This brazen disregard of the facts is troubling and irresponsible for one of the nation’s largest student organizations.”
Estacio’s proposal will likely go nowhere due to the potential for legal action, but a number of student senators expressed support for Estacio’s proposal by clapping and cheering during the meeting.
