The UW Roman Catholic Foundation dropped its religious discrimination charges against individual Student Services Finance Committee members Monday night, deciding to focus its complaints on SSFC's alleged failure to give due process.
Associated Students of Madison Student Judiciary heard UWRCF's complaints that SSFC did not give the organization due process or follow ASM bylaws when it denied UWRCF's request for contract status.
UWRCF Director Tim Kruse said denial of contract status will lead to all 14 full-time positions of the organization to be terminated for the 2007-'08 academic year.
Kruse and Nathaniel Romano, UWRCF's attorney, argued there are four criteria required to be eligible for contract status in the ASM bylaws: adequate reason to apply, no previous contracts violated, no state, federal or university laws violated, and the status must lead to improvement of the organization.
Kruse and Romano declared UWRCF met all four of these criteria.
They also claimed the organization's only option to get full-time paid positions for the group was through this status.
""We just want a fair shake,"" Kruse said, noting the organization is not even asking SSFC to fund its entire budget.
Kruse also argued SSFC immediately seemed to add new bylaws regarding contract status last year after UWRCF requested contract status.
""Every time we ask for something, there's always new criteria introduced,"" Kruse said, declaring his suspicions that UWRCF was being singled out for its religious nature.
SSFC defenders declared perhaps the new system of considering contract status is flawed, but that SSFC members followed the law and did their absolute best to provide due process and are therefore in no violation of ASM bylaws or due process.
At its regular meeting Monday night, SJ finalized the Fall 2006 ASM election results and adopted resolutions to use the UW Survey Center for ASM's next online elections. It also adopted a resolution to set the Spring 2007 ASM elections for March 20-22, 2007.
