During the Fee Allocations Committee (FAC) meeting on Feb. 27, there was a debate regarding whether or not to fund religious groups on campus, and how to handle these funding decisions.
This discussion was brought up due to FAC members choosing not to fund Young Life’s upcoming spring break trip to California.
Ultimately, FAC members felt what was being brought back to CMU from this trip was lacking, but there were concerns of an religious organization being considered for student funding due to the separation of religion and public schools.
David Anderson, an at-large representative, explained why he voted for the funding of the trip, and expressed his concern on other member’s motives.
“It seemed like we were being a little bit discriminated against because they are a religious group,” Anderson said. “I get that it seemed like a fun thing, and I think if we want to cut for that reason I totally agree with it. Should we even see clubs that represent different religious groups?”
This led to further discussion in regard to Anderson’s question. Representative Jacob Reimer gave his insight on why religious organizations such as Young Life have an impact on our campus.
“I think without a doubt we should [consider funding religious clubs],” Reimer said. “We have students on this campus that go to Young Life every week that give something to this campus, that gives something to the students and that directly gives something back to the student body as a whole.”
Reimer further justified that, in this case, the funding was not passed due to a lack of substantial opportunity being brought back to CMU, not because it is a religious group.
However, this was not the opinion of every member. Emily Axtell, the Fine Arts Board representative, felt that religious groups should not be funded by FAC at all.
“There is also a lot of constituents on this campus that a Christian group would probably alienate due to things like their sexuality, their own religious beliefs, their own lifestyle choices. It’s our job to represent this whole campus,” Axtell said.
Kevin Kahuena, the Montrose Campus representative, brought forth the idea to Axtell that clubs are individualized, and that funding through FAC is about fiscal responsibility and not beliefs.
“Every club cannot be designed to encompass everyone,” Kahuena said. “Their club is designed to encompass those students.”
The discussion ended due to argument and a full agreement between all was not met. However, the majority of the members believed religious groups should be represented through FAC, just like every other organization, without religion being a factor.
