Student leaders at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln hope affirmative action is here to stay.
On Wednesday, the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska passed a resolution stating its opposition to the affirmative action ban on the November ballot. The resolution also urges students to research affirmative action and vote against banning it in Nebraska.
All but one senator voted in favor of Senate Resolution #5, and one senator abstained from voting.
"I'm kind of 'Heineman' on this issue," said Katie Madsen, a senior business administration major and external vice president of ASUN. "I'm not going to say yes. I'm not going to say no. I'm just going to smile."
Madsen refused to take a stance because her position doesn't allow her to vote with the senate. But she reminded senators to think of their constituents, some of which support the affirmative action ban.
Nate Skaggs, a senior marketing major and senator for the college of business administration, said he abstained from voting because he felt he didn't know his constituents' opinions well enough to make the decision.
"Gov. Heineman said that because this is not going to come to his desk, he's not going to take a stance," said Emily Zimmer, a senior political science major and president of ASUN. "This is coming to our campus."
Zimmer and several senators pressed others to approve the resolution and oppose the ban because they said it would cripple equal-access and certain university-enriching programs.
The ban would eliminate scholarships that consider race or gender, including private scholarships the university has ties to, said Sarah Fech, a senior political science and French major and chair of the ASUN Government Liaison Committee.
Programs such as a mentor-matching for minority students and facilities including the Women's Center and the Multicultural Center could also be at risk, she said.
Fech also said new faculty may be less attracted to Nebraska without affirmative action because some professors place more importance on campus diversity than pay.
Matt Pederson, a junior secondary education major and ASUN's academic committee chair, voted against the resolution. He said recommending voting against the ban seemed contrary to previous lines in the ASUN resolution asking students to seek information on their own to cast informed votes.
"As a senator, I feel it's not our responsibility to tell students how to vote," Pederson said.
A motion to remove the words that recommend students oppose the ban failed. All but three senators voted against the removal. If they had taken it out, the resolution only would have stated ASUN's opinion and then told students to inform themselves about the affirmative action ban before voting. It wouldn't have called for a specific vote.
The purpose of resolutions is to urge students to act on an issue, said Abby Fitzgerald, a senior elementary education major and ASUN communications committee chair. Resolutions always end with recommendations, she said.
Urging students to vote against the ban is the extent of ASUN's power on the matter, Fech said.
"After this resolution, there's nothing we can do (as a student government)," she said.
ASUN's capacity to block the ban is limited because the proposed constitutional amendment is a ballot initiative, Zimmer said.
The Government Liaison Committee cannot take its usual path of lobbying state senators because the item is on the ballot and not in the Nebraska Unicameral, Fech said. The resolution is ASUN's only plea to deciding voters.
"We cannot afford to (be) inactive," said Justin Solomon, a sophomore general studies major and general studies senator who introduced the bill. "This is not an issue where we should stand idly by and wait to see what happens."
rachelalbin@dailynebraskan.com
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