Student Fees Used for Liberal Advocacy
In a lawsuit served Feb. 12, the Northstar Legal Center (legal affiliate of the Minnesota Family Council) challenged the University’s policy of using mandatory student fees to fund such groups as the Queer Student Cultural Center (a homosexual advocacy organization), the La Raza Student Cultural Center (which backs Cuba’s Communist regime), and University-Young Women (supports abortion).
"We five students, along with thousands of others at the U, emphatically object to paying for the liberal, ideological and political advocacy of several fees-funded student groups," said Matthew Curry, a senior and plaintiff in the lawsuit. "Students should not be forced to support groups that promote ideological and political positions which are contrary to their own."
Curry added, "Students should not be forced to tithe at the altar of political correctness. Thomas Jefferson once said, ‘To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical.’"
Curry and his fellow plaintiffs are being represented by Jordan Lorence, general counsel for the Northstar Legal Center. Lorence explained, "The constitutional problem with what the University is doing is that it forces students to fund groups they wouldn’t fund voluntarily, as a condition of attending the University of Minnesota. These are groups that are engaging in ideological or political advocacy. The Supreme Court has said governments cannot force people to fund the political or ideological advocacy of others."
The lawsuit is similar to one Lorence filed against the University of Wisconsin. The students in the Wisconsin case won in district court last year, but the decision has been appealed by the University.
While a number of liberal advocacy organizations at the University of Minnesota get university funding, Lorence says there are no conservative groups being funded. "There are no groups that I would say are Christian or conservative or pro-family or anything like that."
The amount of money involved in funding the three groups is relatively modest--about $1.04 per quarter per student. But the amount isn’t the important thing, explains Lorence. "There are a lot of people who don’t want to pay even that buck each quarter. James Madison, who authored the First Amendment, said that a government that can force person to spend three pence for an opinion with which they disapprove can force them to do anything. It can be any amount of money — the principle is the same."
The lawsuit seeks to have the University change its current scheme for funding student organizations. "The minimum the University must do is give the students a check-off option for these three groups," said Lorence, who noted that the University already allows students to opt out of funding the MPIRG lobbying group. "Ideally, there would be a system where students would be free to not fund any of these ideological student groups at all, unless they want to--a system where the money stays in the student’s pocket unless the student voluntarily takes some action to give the money to the student organization. The groups are free to continue getting money from the student government, but it should be voluntarily contributed."
The University has 30 days from the day the lawsuit was served to respond.
Back to the PFN Front Page