Last spring, despite conservative opposition, the Texas A&M student body voted in a referendum in favor of a green fee to expand the funding of the Enviromental Issues Committee (student government committee).
But according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education’s (FIRE) guide to student fees, students at A&M can demand a refund for the fee the university forces them to pay to support environmental propaganda and schemes on campus:
May a college allow students to opt out of funding groups that they find objectionable? Yes. A college or university is free to recognize the rights of conscience of individual students, allowing them to opt out of funding groups that these students find objectionable. This can be done administratively without a lawsuit or court order. For example, the University of Minnesota has established a procedure for students to receive refunds of their funding of MPIRG (Minnesota Public Interest Research Group). Institutions of higher learning would be respecting the highest principles by not forcing unwilling students to fund groups they find objectionable. (pgs 22-23)
[T]he Supreme Court has spoken, and it has insisted that if public colleges and universities choose mandatory funding, they must follow a policy of viewpoint neutrality….In Southworth, the Supreme Court ruled that referenda to decide funding would almost certainly violate the principle of viewpoint neutrality. If a power oversteps constitutional limits, it does not matter whether it is a minority or a majority that exercises that power. A referendum invites a majority of voting students to violate viewpoint neutrality. Referenda offer no protection from the tyranny of the majority in matters of mandatory fees and the allocation of funding. State universities may not force students to fund groups that win funding through a referendum, nor may they deny a group funding solely because it does not receive sufficient support in a referendum. (pg 23-24)
A public college or university cannot impose or use mandatory fees to create a system in which students at one end of the political or religious spectrum are forced to fund ideas with which they disagree while never allowing them to fund ideas with which they agree. (pg 29)
Therefore, Aggies may either demand a refund because they find the environmental politics of the Environmental Issues Committee objectionable or demand equal funding from the university for the promotion of the conservative approach to environmental issues.
To demand a refund, contact Student Business Services by email. Get a response? To demand fairness through the funding of a Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) chapter at A&M, contact the Student Senate and Student Body President by email.
Does your campus also have a green fee? You too can demand viewpoint neutrality!
Here’s some other ways you can combat the strong enviro-mania gripping your campus:
1. Start a chapter of Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT). You can’t change your campus unless you organize people around their hot button issues. CFACT is a wonderful organization to work with too.
2. Host a screening of the film Not Evil, Just Wrong. This documentary exposes the true cost of global warming hysteria.
3. Host a speaker who can combat the pseudo-science! CFACT can help a lot with finding a good speaker and the logistics. I highly recommend Chris Horner and Christopher Lord Monckton.
By Tony Listi
