By a vote of 5-2 on Nov. 23, the Earl Warren College Judicial Board ruled that the Warren College Student Council’s decision to fund the Nov. 13 Asian and Pacific-Islander Student Alliance high school conference did not violate the WCSC’s financial bylaws, restoring $150 worth of funding for the organization’s event.
On Nov. 8, Warren College Senator Matt Herrick filed a grievance against the council, charging that the council had violated its own constitution and bylaws by funding the APSA event.
The conference benefits disadvantaged high school students by addressing questions and concerns regarding higher education, according to the APSA constitution.
In Herrick’s opinion, the conference should not have received funding because it did not directly benefit Warren students. The judicial board granted Herrick a preliminary injunction, freezing allocations for the conference.
In its decision, the judicial board stated that an event should be considered as “benefiting the Warren community” if even one Warren student received a direct or indirect benefit.
During his testimony in the Nov. 18 case hearing, APSA Cultural Director and Warren sophomore Joseph Ramirez described the leadership experience he received through participating in the conference.
According to the board’s decision, Ramirez’s testimony was sufficient proof that the event provided a benefit to at least one Warren student.
“We refuse to establish a critical mass of Warren students a program must benefit before it qualifies as benefiting Warren students,” the board stated in its decision. “The central purpose of this program may not be to benefit Warren students, but nowhere in the bylaws does it say that this is required. It only says that the event must benefit Warren students, irrespective of what the program’s central purpose is.”
The decision also emphasized the board’s opinion that the APSA conference provided a benefit for the whole UCSD community.
“We affirm that programs such as this one and outreach in general clearly and unequivocally benefit the campus community,” it stated.
In a dissenting opinion, Warren College Judicial Board member Dmitriy Bronin argued that the conference did not provide any benefit to the Warren community.
“I also advise the Warren College Legislative Council not to fund programs pertaining to social services and thus not benefiting the Warren community; if you choose to fund such programs, revise or clarify the by-laws that guide your decisions,” Bronin stated.
Herrick expressed disappointment over the decision.
“I was disappointed, but I understand and will accept the decision,” Herrick said. “I hope we can create a constitutional amendment to address some of these issues.”
Herrick also said he will most likely introduce a legislative amendment to the council regarding outreach funding after returning from winter break.
APSA President Victor Huynh said he was happy that the judicial board restored funding for the conference.
“I think the ruling was fair because I felt WCSC did not violate the bylaws by funding our event,” Huynh said. “I think APSA and WCSC can definitely move forward after this issue. I think this issue brought more attention to the interpretation of the bylaws on funding events and hopefully, through revisions of the bylaws and constitution, high school conferences can continue receiving full support from the college councils.”
