A Witte Residence Hall housefellow said he believes University Housing terminated him because of his unpopular views about funding for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Campus Center.
Matt Morin, a UW-Madison senior and a housefellow for three years, now faces termination with one semester left before graduation.
Morin said his supervisor, Jenni Adams, complex life coordinator at Witte, notified him of his termination Nov. 18, telling him it was due to an incident Nov. 6 in which he lent his key to a group of friends staying with him.
Representatives of University Housing said they had no comment.
Morin said lending his key is a violation of housing regulations, but generally is not dealt with so severely.
\There's no doubt in my mind that I broke a rule and for that I should receive some type of punishment. I just don't think this punishment specifically fits the crime, especially given how they've dealt with crimes just as serious, if not more serious, in the past,"" Morin said.
He said there is a documented case of a resident who was twice caught lending his key to someone else and was not removed from University Housing, as policy states he should be after two such cases.
Furthermore, according to Morin, last year at Witte three housefellows broke into the main office, which is a restricted area, after hours when a resident wanted to turn in her key and were only put on probation for the violation.
""According to a conversation I had with one of the housefellows involved, they could have been charged with a felony, plus they were in violation of the same three violations as me,"" Morin said. ""Now one of them has been approached to replace me if the termination stands.""
This has led Morin to believe other factors caused his termination.
""I can't imagine why they would want to get rid of someone who has such a good track record and no other previous disciplinary problems, but I think it goes back to some of the events of earlier this year,"" Morin said.
A few weeks before Morin lent out his key, he attended a Student Services Finance Committee meeting where he spoke about the LGBT Campus Center's budget.
""I think the LGBT Campus Center is great, but doubling their funding is excessive,"" Morin said. ""I feel I'm able to have these opinions because I'm a housefellow and I've seen how some of these programs work. I was just taking a fiscal position.""
The following day Morin met with Adams. She warned him about the views he expressed.
Housefellow Peter McCabe, a UW-Madison junior who works at Kronshage Residence Hall, was also called down to his supervisor regarding statements made at the SSFC meeting. However, McCabe had not attended the meeting in question.
""They accused me of recruiting students to speak out against the LGBT Campus Center which isn't true,"" McCabe said. ""It was a general accusation with no concrete specific evidence.""
According to the Student Services Finance Commitee Chair Roman Patzner, no one from University Housing contacted him to verify either housefellows' presence or statements at the meeting.
Morin appealed his termination Nov. 25 to Kevin Helmkamp, assistant resident life director for the Southeast Area of University Housing, who upheld Adams' decision. Morin will make his final appeal Tuesday morning to Assistant Director of University Housing Kay Reuter-Krohn.
Morin's residents have supported him through this process by signing a petition, compiling testimonials and writing letters to his supervisors.
""He's become such a good friend and we don't want to see him go away,"" said UW-Madison freshman Kelly Spitzner who compiled the testimonials. ""It was not hard to get eight pages.""
Patzner said he thinks this situation sheds light on larger issues.
""I think this whole incident asks the question whose interest is University Housing looking out for, because his residents want him to stay and it seems like that's being ignored,"" Patzner said.
