Something strange is happening over in Chapel Hill. Yes, even stranger than normal.
The UNC-Chapel Hill College Republicans, led by “secession czar” Marc Seelinger, have recently been working to have their university secede from the Association of Student Governments. The Association (ASG for short) is a group of representatives from student governments across the 17-campus UNC system dedicated to lobbying the state government on the students’ behalf.
However, according to Seelinger, ASG does a very poor job of lobbying, its officers get paid way too much, and it is generally about as transparent as goat cheese. Seelinger notes that, despite stipends in the thousands of dollars and conferences at upscale hotels, tuition still went up by the maximum allowable rate last year. He says this is clear evidence that ASG is not doing a very good job as student advocate.
The organization is funded by a $1 fee collected from every student in the UNC system (roughly 220,000 students) and was originally established by the UNC Board of Governors.
The UNC-CH College Republicans are collecting signatures to put UNC-CH’s participation in ASG on the ballot in next month’s student elections. However, if enough signatures are collected and enough students vote against participation, it is unclear what will happen. As of this posting, Board of Governors representatives have yet to return phone calls about the development.
Still, even if UNC-CH ends its participation in ASG, students will only see their fees diminish by one dollar. For Seelinger, when asked why he was putting in so much effort into such a small amount, he didn’t hesitate to reply that it’s not about the money, it’s about right and wrong. “It’s a matter of principle,” he said. And, no matter which way the Board of Governors reacts, it will certainly be interesting to watch.