Now that the UW Roman Catholic Foundation has increased student membership of its leadership board under the orders of a federal court, UW-Madison's Student Organization Office should grant the foundation Registered Student Organization status ""very soon,"" according to UWRCF Director Tim Kruse.
""I would anticipate getting RSO status by the end of the week,"" Kruse said. ""I mean, they've had our application now since June so there's not a lot of review to do ... I would certainly be very disappointed if we weren't approved very, very quickly—there shouldn't be a lot left to look at.""
The foundation voted Tuesday night to make nine of its 12 board members students, after meticulously combing over each line of UWRCF's bylaws to ensure a smooth process with the SOO and the university in the future, Kruse said.
""The changes in our bylaws should take no review because we actually did those with the university's attorney,"" Kruse said.
UWRCF has faced recognition difficulties since fall 2005, when it was denied funding for its off-campus rent in St. Paul's Catholic Center on State Street and Library Mall. Since then, it has battled through denial of RSO status for the 2006-'07 academic year, a status given by the SOO that allows student organizations to be eligible for funding—usually upwards of $15,000 per academic year—from the Associated Students of Madison's Student Services Finance Committee.
Due to more stringent guidelines this academic year in assessing student organizations' RSO applications, the SOO had a backlog of applications last semester, university spokesperson John Lucas said in November 2006.
UWRCF submitted a complaint against the U.S. Department of Justice in late September 2006, accusing the SOO and the university of religious discrimination.
The foundation also filed a federal lawsuit in mid-November 2006 against the entire UW System and four UW-Madison administrators. The preliminary injunction last Thursday that ordered UWRCF to appoint at least six students to its 12 board members was the precursor to the actual trial of this lawsuit, according to Kruse.
