While differing opinions bombard the state concerning the New Badger Partnership, some UW-Madison students have formed a group to show their support for the proposed change to the UW system.
The Students for the New Badger Partnership formed to inform students about the New Badger Partnership and bring together students who support it, according to the group's co-head coordinator Jon Alfuth.
""Our main focus is to reach out to students on campus and hopefully talk to them about the New Badger Partnership and communicate with them how we feel its important to the UW campus and create a little more balance to the conversation,"" Alfuth said.
According to Alfuth, the group will demonstrate its support for the New Badger Partnership in a multitude of ways, including going to the Capitol to express its patronage and holding informational forums for students.
An anonymous post on siftingandwinnowing.org, a website that publishes opinion articles by professors, alleged that the group may be involved with non-students without student interest as a priority.
Alfuth denied these allegations and said the group will not release the names of students involved because the New Badger Partnership is a controversial issue.
""We're a student group. We were formed by students. We don't have any outside groups funding us,"" Alfuth said.
Former student government representative Maxwell Love said any group that takes a stance on a charged issue should expect criticism.
""I don't think it's inappropriate for someone to question the legitimacy of the group based on its membership,"" Love said.
However, Love said he fears the information the Students for the New Badger Partnership provides to students may be biased. He also said that, although the group is small, it may give the community the idea that all students favor the New Badger Partnership.
Alfuth said the group currently has about two dozen members. He hopes to see the group's size grow with time.
The future of the New Badger Partnership in the state Legislature is unclear.
Joint Finance Assembly co-chair Robin Vos, R-Rochester, spoke about the New Badger Partnership on ""UpFront with Mike Gousha"" Sunday.
Vos said he thinks it is unlikely that UW-Madison will be granted full autonomy from the state within the next budget cycle.
""I am positive that we are going to give some additional flexibility, but probably not all the way to allowing Madison to spin off and set its own tuition and all those things without more oversight,"" Vos said.
