Joint Resolution 26-02 proposed to cut the budgets of nine student-fee funded organizations (Orgs) at an Associated Student Government (ASG) House of Representatives meeting on Mon. April 13. It passed during that meeting and appeared at the following Senate meeting on Wed. April 15.

ASG Senate Leader and CMU Tech Senator Elijah Lorica was one of the sponsors on the resolution but removed it from the agenda for the Wednesday meeting and no cuts passed. Over 100 students and professors attended to voice their concerns about ASG’s priorities. This resolution was proposed alongside Joint Resolution 26-03, which intended to increase student fees by $5 to fund a parking structure.

Three Orgs received notice on April 13 that ASG would fully repeal their funding if the resolution passed. Horizon Magazine, the Literary Review and Greek Life received emails around 2 p.m. on Monday afternoon from ASG President Leilani Domingo.

The ASG House of Representatives voted on the resolution four hours later at 6 p.m.

The proposed budget cuts totaled $224,528.16 and would have reduced student fees by $1.21 per credit hour.

The nine Orgs that Joint Resolution 26-02 would have impacted included the 437CO Art Gallery for a partial reduction, ASG for a partial reduction, Greek Life for a full repeal, Horizon Magazine for a full repeal, KMSA for a full repeal, the Literary Review for a full repeal, Pep Band for a full repeal, Sustainability Council for a partial reduction and the Criterion for a partial reduction.

In a February Cabinet meeting, Domingo told all Org leaders to schedule a meeting with her to discuss what a 5% budget cut would look like. Horizon Magazine and the Literary Review received no notice that their entire funding was up for repeal in these meetings with Domingo.

Domingo made a statement during the Senate meeting:

“I think what makes a good leader is someone who can hear what the people are saying and pivot. A bad leader would hear everything you are saying and come with the mindset of ‘No, I’m still going to push through with my resolution,’ but I’m not doing that. I will learn and I will accept my role and I will adjust. I heard what you said, I accept that criticism, and we’re changing course.”

Editor-in-Chief of Horizon Magazine Emily Morales reported feeling “blindsided” by the email. Morales and other student leaders felt ASG deliberately misled them so the Orgs would not have enough time to prepare appeals.

“I do want to express my disappointment with ASG for lying to us about their communication, their insufficient planning and their disregard for the student organizations and clubs that make Colorado Mesa University feel like a home in every corner,” vice president of brotherhood development for Kappa Sigma Jacob Crower said at the Senate meeting.

KMSA and Maverick Stampede, labeled as Pep Band in the House and Senate slideshows, did not receive an email notice of the proposed cut or the meeting. The Literary Review’s email notification from Domingo included no notice of the meeting date, time or location. Employee for the 437CO Art Gallery and studio art major Rebecca McFaffick said their team received no notice about the cut in an Instagram comment:

“On behalf of the 437CO Art Gallery, there was no communication on these potential cuts up until the meeting where the slideshow pictured was presented. The gallery is not a student organization and rather an extension of the fine arts department. Our gallery director only heard of these proposed cuts when gallery workers (such as myself) saw this post and relayed it to her. After speaking with our head of the art department, our administrative assistant, and everyone who is affiliated with the art gallery, nobody in charge was made aware of these budget cuts until the very last minute when this was proposed.”

Students at the Senate and House meetings identified a variety of opportunities in Student Life as an important factor in their decision to attend CMU.

“When I came to this university, it was my understanding that these organizations would be valued more than slabs of concrete. I understand that there are issues that need to be solved, but I don’t believe anyone on this campus, let alone our student leaders, should decide that those problems should be solved by gutting those institutions that make CMU. When somebody needs an amputation, you don’t shoot them in the heart, which is what is happening here today. You are asking to remove the core of Student Life, identity and purpose. […] Should we remove these things from our organizations? Respectfully, the answer should be ‘hell no’ and it should stay that way always,” PAC Committee Chair and criminal justice major Gavin Peonio said.

Peonio voiced their concerns as a student and spoke independently of any organization.

Student leaders at the Senate meeting echoed Peonio’s sentiment.

“I represent a lot of student leaders for the campus and for this room. With that being said, this is a slap in the face as a student leader. I, as a Student Ambassador, like to tell all of my tours about the journalism opportunities that we have here on campus. And I like to tell all of my tours about the Greek Life that we have here on campus. And I like to tell all of my tours about all the awesome opportunities as a student leader we have on campus. If we cut these, or if we go after them, we no longer have these opportunities for student leaders,” Director of the Club Advisory Board (CAB) Madelyn Mintz said.

Around 40 people packed University Center room 222 on Monday night’s House meeting to submit public comments about the perceived injustice of these cuts. The Language, Literature and Mass Communication (LLMC) department is connected with four of the nine Orgs considered for budget cuts. A few professors supported student leaders at the Senate and House Meetings.

Assistant Professor of English Kathryn McClain and Assistant Professor of Spanish Laura Munoz said during their public comments that it felt like a “direct attack” on LLMC. Domingo said print media organizations associated with LLMC like Horizon Magazine, the Literary Review and the Criterion should consider moving to online distribution models.

The proposed resolutions may be invalid because the meeting was not in compliance with Colorado’s Open Meeting Laws Act (C.R.S. § 24-6-401 et seq) or the ASG Constitution and Bylaws listed on the CMU website.

Open Meeting or “Sunshine Laws” require that the public receives the agenda, location and time of the meeting with 24 hours of notice. ASG is a governing body in Colorado which positions them under the purview of Open Meeting Laws.

The agendas and meeting minutes for all House and Senate meetings for academic year are not publicly available on ASG’s web pages. The Colorado Department of Local Affairs states that “[a]ny formal action taken is not valid unless it meets the requirements of the Act.”

The House and Senate members did not receive appropriate notice of the joint resolutions from the ASG executive team. The House received the resolutions around 4 p.m., which gave them less than two hours to review them before voting. The House passed the resolution to the Senate with amendments to not fully repeal any Orgs’ full budget.

The members of the House and Senate also voted on a $25 million dollar joint resolution to issue a $5 fee to construct a parking garage. All the representatives had less than 24 hours to review the resolution. During the meeting they were given a presentation about the project from Vice President of Student Services Dr. Roberto Montoya with support from Budget Director Spencer Rockwell during each body’s respective meeting.

“I am learning all this information right now and I didn’t know this was happening,” Graduate Senator Adrian Silva said during the Senate meeting.

Universities regularly use student fees to build auxiliary buildings like the Hamilton Recreation Center and the University Center. CMU uses capital funds, which colleges must request from the state, to build dorms and educational buildings.

There was confusion among the senators about whether or not CMU had done this before, how the funding from student fees would work and why the parking structure needs to happen right now.

The senators decided to table consideration of Joint Resolution 26-03 until April 22. They wanted to gather more input from the students they represent before voting. CMU Montrose Campus Senator Monika Gonzalez expressed concerns over rushing a decision because the students she represents in Montrose would be paying for a structure they would likely never use. The resolution passed through the Senate at the April 22 meeting.

The CMU Board of Trustees may have moved forward with a student fee increase even if Joint Resolution 26-03 did not pass. ASG’s resolution operates as a recommendation to the Trustees and not a definitive decision. The Trustees will make the final decision at their next meeting on May 15. They will also decide how much to increase parking passes at the meeting according to Montoya.

In an email to ASG from President John Marshall he wrote:

“If you all pass a resolution supporting the new fee and structure, then we will recommend that the Board proceeds with this project. If you do not pass a resolution recommending we proceed, then we will likewise pass along an unfavorable recommendation.”

This article was updated to reflect edits made in our print edition on April 27.