The UW Roman Catholic Foundation and Jewish Cultural Collective are eligible to receive student segregated fees, the Student Services Financial Committee decided at its meeting Wednesday evening.
The groups' applications for funding had the potential to be contentious in light of the 1996 Southworth case, in which a former student sued UW-Madison for funding ideologically-driven groups. However, in this case, neither group sought funding for religious services, making religion a minor point in the SSFC's deliberations. Members came to the conclusion that the organizations were adding to diverse opinions on campus.
\I don't think we're necessarily [advancing] the viewpoint of the organizations involved, but there's a different culture,"" said SSFC member and UW-Madison senior Peter McCabe. ""The message is different and does add something to the marketplace of ideas.""
Some SSFC members were concerned whether the Foundation's services to students were redundant, but several Foundation employees pointed out the various Catholic churches on campus do not cater specifically to students. They also said their services do not overlap with the UW-Madison curriculum.
The JCC hearing generated a long debate as well. Its funding of speakers led SSFC members to question whether its services differ from those of the Distinguished Lecture Series. However, Joel Bennett, a JCC board member and UW-Madison junior, pointed out that the group also runs coffeehouse and theater programs, as well as sponsors cultural cinema.
""We don't prescribe ourselves to a certain ideology, and ... we're not a religious organization,"" he said. ""We're here to better educate and involve students with the diverse culture and society of Judaism.""
To arguments that the JCC's services were not educational, SSFC member and UW-Madison sophomore Janell Wise said education could take many forms.
""Educational benefit isn't necessarily having a career fair or providing advising services,"" she said. ""[It's] thinking, and we shouldn't frame narrowly what 'thinking' is.""
The Multicultural Student Coalition was also granted eligibility at the meeting after several students spoke on its behalf during an open forum. The organization generated an intense discussion centering on whether the organization was welcoming to all students, despite its chair writing an article in the Madison Observer that called members of the SSFC ""white supremacists.""
SSFC member and UW-Madison junior Joel Giffin said the article was not representative of the group's larger campus efforts.
""We need proof that somebody was unable to participate in [MCSC's] programs ... [but] I don't believe this is true,"" he said. ""Everybody is allowed, encouraged, made to feel welcome.""
Along with these groups, several other organizations received approval for funding. The Child Care Tuition Assistance Program, Polygon and the Rape Crisis Center all met eligibility requirements. Work Project was the sole group to be denied.
