In the wake of a controversial funding decision which paid for a busload of students to protest the Republican National Convention in New York City this August, the Students’ Administrative Council has now denied funding to an on-campus group supporting Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. The new partisan group, the U of T Democrats, has begun a campaign to register American students so they can vote in November’s presidential election.
Sam Rahimi, Vice President External for SAC, brought forth a motion at Monday’s meeting of the SAC board to grant $200 (later increased to $500) of special funding to the club. Normally, clubs must complete a process through the Clubs Commission to obtain financial assistance, but Rahimi felt it necessary that the SAC address the issue immediately.
“Many US students here don’t know that they can vote,” he said, and the registration deadlines for absentee voters in many states are quickly approaching.
SAC recently subsidized protestors to march against the Republican Convention during the weekend of August 28. The funding, which totalled close to $1,500, has angered many students, including some members of SACs board.
“The more SAC funds this kind of thing, the more it turns into a socialist slush fund,” said Matt Aleksic, SAC rep for Victoria College, who took issue with giving money to both the protestors and U of T Democrats.
Rahimi insisted that the political alignment of the group was of little importance.
“If Republicans came and asked for money, I would vote for that too,” said Rahimi.
The motion was hotly debated. Those who were opposed to it argued that SAC shouldn’t fund partisan causes in another country. But Dylan Rae, Vice President of Student Life, countered that this would hardly be the first time.
“SAC helped Russian students run a campaign against [incumbent Russian President Vladimir] Putin” in the run-up to Russia’s last federal election, said Rae. SAC also funds groups associated with Canadian political parties.
Initially, it appeared that there was enough support to pass the funding motion. But Aleksic said that money should not be given to any group “without a solid budget” being presented to SAC. James Webster, representing Woodsworth College, said “the money could be better spent. We have some students who can’t afford textbooks.”
In the end, the motion was decisively defeated 17 to 9, with 2 abstentions.
Rahimi said he thought the motion failed because “some of the board members were new and were swayed by the rhetoric. They haven’t been around long enough to know that the SAC funds partisan causes all the time.”
Despite causing a stir among U of T’s student politicos, the head of U of T Democrats, Carly Erickson, said controversy was not her intention.
“I’m doing this so Americans here know how to vote,” she said, “not to brainwash people about Iraq or anything.” She said that it was Rahimi’s idea to ask SAC for funding, and she had planned to use the money to pay for photocopies, t-shirts, and buttons.
Erickson, a dual citizen, called SAC’s decision unfair.
“They’re not Americans and they’re…deciding whether or not Americans [at U of T] are being well-informed.” Even without the funding, Erickson said she will continue her work. University regulations prevent the number of American students on campus from being disclosed, but in one day of campaigning, Erickson has helped around 30 of them register to vote. “I’ll have to pay for it myself,” she said. “It won’t stop me.”
