Regents face choice on student fee use

UW System leaders plan to decide this week how to respond to a federal appeals court ruling that prohibits UW–Madison from using mandatory student fees to finance political groups opposed by some students.

With four judges dissenting, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago earlier refused to reconsider its decision in the case. A three-judge panel ruled in August that UW–Madison’s use of student-activity fees to fund activist groups violates some students’ rights.

The UW System Board of Regents this week will receive a committee report on how to collect fees in the wake of the ruling. The board is expected to decide in closed session whether or not to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court. Depending on that decision, the board may then discuss the two options offered by the committee:

• Defining which campus groups are political or ideological and letting students opt out of funding them; or

• Placing all student organizations, events and activities in an “opt out” category.

Higher-education officials and legal experts nationwide are closely watching the UW–Madison case, saying it could have broad implications for all colleges and universities. A similar lawsuit has been filed against the student-fee system at the University of Minnesota.

Student representatives are unlikely to see sunshine in either of the regents’ options. The Associated Students of Madison student government has argued that dismantling UW’s current system, with fees collected by the university and distributed by student government, will diminish diversity and free expression on campus.

The federal panel ruled in favor of three UW–Madison students who sued the university in 1996 because they objected to using student fees to fund at least 18 student groups including the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Campus Center and the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group. The Chicago judges agreed that the mandatory-fee system violates the First Amendment protection of freedom of belief.

All UW System students must pay segregated fees each semester with tuition to receive grades or graduate. The fees at UW–Madison this year are $404, and student groups receive about 10 cents to 30 cents from each student. The bulk of student fees fund University Health Services and the Wisconsin Union.