Earl Warren College Freshman Senator Matt Herrick and supporters of the Asian and Pacific-Islander Student Alliance high school conference sparred over the interpretation of bylaws governing the Warren College Student Council at a Nov. 18 hearing before the Warren College Judicial Board, which convened to determine whether the council could fund the conference.

The WCSC originally decided to allocate $150 for the conference at its Oct. 28 meeting by a vote of 10-3. However, a grievance filed by Herrick on Nov. 8 resulted in a preliminary injunction freezing all WCSC funds for the conference, which was held on Nov. 13.

“People have asked me if this whole controversy that I’ve created is just a publicity stunt,” Herrick said during the hearing. “My reasons for filing this grievance are selfless and honorable. I have taken these actions to preserve the integrity of the Warren College Student Council and this fight has cost me a great deal personally.”

Herrick argued that by funding the APSA conference, WCSC violates its own constitution and financial bylaws, enacted this year, which state that the council can only allocate funds to projects that benefit the Warren College community. In Herrick’s opinion, the event could not be considered a benefit to Warren students.

“The APSA constitution explicitly states that this conference is to benefit high school students by addressing the questions and concerns of San Diego youth in regards to college, as well as to initiate the transition from high school to university,” Herrick said.

Warren Student Advocate Charlene Cheng, who represented WCSC in the case, claimed that Herrick based his entire grievance on his personal interpretation of the bylaws.

“In this case, [Herrick] had the burden of proof to show that WCSC has been in violation of its bylaws by funding this high school outreach program, and he has simply not been able to prove his case,” Cheng said during the hearing. “The only thing [he] has been able to show is that there are different ways to interpret the bylaws, and in the case of the funding of APSA, the majority of WCSC voting members did not believe the bylaws were broken.”

According to APSA President Victor Huynh, nine out of 20 APSA executive board members are Warren students, about half of the committee members for the high school conference this year came from the college, and approximately 50 to 60 volunteers at the event were from Warren.

For the past five years, at least one of the coordinators of the conference was a Warren student, according to APSA Outreach Coordinator Mizuki Okamura.

“I’m not going to argue the fact that there is a so-and-so number of students involved in this organization, because these facts are moot and irrelevant,” Herrick said. “Sadly, this was the reason why many council members voted for funding this [event].”

The WCSC financial bylaws do not specify any number of Warren students that must benefit from an event in order for it to receive funding, according to testimony given by Warren Sophomore Senator Greg Murphy.

Warren Junior Senator Josh Martino also said he did not believe that the bylaws had been violated.

“You sort of have to look at two things when you’re funding,” Martino said. “You have to look at how many students it affects, and to what capacity it affects those students. This is one of those programs where, regardless of how many students it affects, the Warren students it does affect have tremendous benefits.”

Although Herrick admitted that Warren students could and did volunteer at the APSA conference, he argued that the bylaws did not permit the funding of service events.

“Volunteering is also known as volunteering service,” Herrick said. “The bylaws state that the WCSC cannot allocate funds for the purposes of services provided by any members of a club. Volunteering service is the only way that students could involve themselves in this event, and to allocate money for that purpose is in violation of our bylaws.”

According to Huynh, APSA requested the same amount of money from all six college councils, and all of the councils voted to fund this year’s conference to some degree. The total cost of the conference is roughly $6,000 to $8,000 each year, with the majority of the money funded by the Student-Initiated Outreach Recruitment Commission, Huynh said.

“We believe very strongly about outreach, and this event does have a good cause behind it,” Huynh said. “It definitely benefits the Warren community.”

In response to the issue, the Revelle College Council submitted and passed a resolution on Nov. 16 affirming its support of outreach funding. RCC has always approved funding for APSA’s high school conference, according to Revelle Senior Senator Ted McCombs, who drafted the original resolution.

“I was rather upset over what happened at the WCSC and the freezing of the APSA funding, and I wanted the RCC to take a leadership position in affirming its commitment to student-initiated outreach,” McCombs said.

Herrick said he felt the resolution was inappropriate at the time.

“I feel that because [this] is now being considered by the Warren Council Judicial Board, it’s an internal matter,” Herrick said. “I just don’t think that Revelle College knew all of the facts before they offered and passed this resolution.”

Members of the A.S. Council also passed an emergency appropriation on Nov. 17, covering the funds frozen by the Warren Judicial Board for the duration of the adjudication process.

Herrick said he has also faced several acts of personal antagonism since he filed the grievance. His door lock was super-glued and his face was super-imposed on a lewd photo that was posted in the residence halls, he said.

The final decision on the case will be announced within seven days of the hearing.