SGA tackles tough issue of illegal aliens

To prepare for Higher Education Day this coming Monday, Student Government Association met to hash out the controversial topic of undocumented aliens in higher education.

Higher Education Day gives the opportunity for Student Government Associations and students from across Kansas Board of Regents Institutions to address the Kansas Legislature on issues that may have a major effect on higher education.

Because the topic of illegal aliens in higher education will be covered, SGA felt it was important to introduce a resolution on the issue in order to ensure consistency within the highly diverse Senate.

Rather than support the notion of illegal aliens, the resolution aimed to prevent any further measures against illegal aliens pursuing higher education. The resolution cites the Kansas House Bill No. 2145 that was introduced to the Committee on Federal and State Affairs saying that it “targets undocumented workers and their children, forcing longtime members of the community to pay out-of-state tuition.”

The plan to maintain consistency backfired, however, when the resolution, after much debate, failed to pass. This puts Wichita State’s SGA outside of the opinion of the Kansas Board of Regents and the other KBOR schools who wish to lobby against the recent House Bill at Higher Education Day on Monday.

“There was not active enough communication on the issue prior to tonight in order to avoid concerns that existed,” said SGA Sen. and Resolution author, Casey Donnell. “Wichita State is unique in that we have a more full perspective from international students than I think other Kansas Board of Regents Schools do.”

Sen. Donnell was one of the authors of the resolution but was swayed by debate and voted against it. The main issues were that SGA could be seen as indirectly condoning illegal activity by passing the resolution and that the data was inconclusive as to whether allowing in-state tuition for undocumented aliens would actually hurt or help the State. The resolution failed to pass with a vote of seven to 11 with two members abstaining.

Along with addressing the proposed resolution, SGA also passed multiple funding bills. The first was a funding bill for $30,375 in order to renew the OrgSync contract for all registered student organizations for three more years.

The second was a funding bill for $9,575.63 in order to pick up unforeseen expenses from last semester’s large-scale country music concert.

The third was a bill for $9,083 funding an SGA travel conference to New Orleans.

The next bill was to fund travel and projects for several groups on campus. These included Christian Challenge, Cross Campus Council, WSU Ceramics Guild, Alpha Kappa Psi, Indian Student Association and the Criminal Justice Student Association. This funding bill totaled $7,868.95.

The last passed bill was to fund several individuals for travel to present their literary work. These individual bills totaled $2,700.

SGA failed to pass one individual funding bill due to the fact that they were members of Alpha Kappa Psi and received funding through their group already. Allocating additional funds to the individual could be seen as “double-dipping” into student fees money.

SGA also appointed several new members including Nick Swanson and Michael Brinkman for Senator at Large, Amanda Halling for Liberal Arts and Sciences Senator and Raven Milam for Fine Arts Senator.

Sunday, many members of SGA will be traveling to Lawrence to meet with other Kansas Board of Regents Schools in preparation for Higher Education Day the following Monday in Topeka. Information on the positions taken will follow upon their return.