UNIVERSITY OF
COLORADO STUDENT UNION
LEGISLATIVE
COUNCIL
March 20,
2008
68LCR # 6
Sponsored
by: Blaine Pellicore, Representative-at-large
Dustin Farivar, Vice
President
Hadley Brown,
Tri-Executive
Authored
by: Dan Omasta, Student-at-Large
Hadley Brown,
Tri-Executive
Resolution
Promoting Civic Engagement and Institutionalized Voter Registration Practices
on Campus
______________________________________________________
Resolution
History
The
University of Colorado is responsible for promoting the civic engagement of its
students. Since voting is a necessary
component of civic engagement,
during the fall of 2007, the University of
Colorado Student Union (UCSU) and several student groups on campus actively
registered over 3,500 CU students to vote and put in a great effort to get them
to the polls.
One
incident occurred during the first week of February that acted to
disenfranchise CU students and directly undermine their ability to participate
in the election process. A physics exam
was scheduled for 7:00 pm on Tuesday, February 5, directly conflicting with the
Colorado Caucus. The professor
responsible for assigning the test did not offer any surrogate dates for an
alternate test and refused to change the date or the time, despite requests
from students in his class. In addition
to a scheduled test, many other students were met with more academic conflicts
such as labs and evening classes.
________________________________________________________________________
Resolution
Summary
Whereas, youth civic
engagement at the University of Colorado is instrumental to our education and highly
valued by our campus, community, and state; and
Whereas, CU student
organizations, including UCSU, have been highly successful recently in engaging
more students in the democratic process; and
Whereas, the opportunity
for student suffrage on campus must be protected by University policy and
should not be impeded by mandatory, non-negotiable academic requirements such
as exams, labs, or class; and
Whereas, The American
College and University President’s Civic Engagement Commitment would initiate
the development of a comprehensive plan to support youth civic engagement, including,
but not limited to campus-wide notifications with information about voting and
voter registration, registration of first year students during orientation,
access to residence halls and high traffic areas on campus, and the creation of
campus polling sites. Within two months of signing this document, the
University would be obligated to help institutionalize voter registration and
voting structures.
THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislative Council of the University of Colorado Student
Union, THAT:
Section 1: UCSU strongly encourages Chancellor
Peterson be one of the first University leaders to sign the American College
and University President’s Civic Engagement Commitment to increase the overall
opportunity for participation in the democratic process on campus.
Section 2: UCSU encourages the University of
Colorado to protect students’opportunity to participate in the democratic process by enacting policy that
would not allow mandatory academic events that conflict with caucuses.
Section 3:
UCSU authorizes its executive branch to present resolution to the
Chancellor for his approval.
Section 4:
This resolution takes effect upon passage by the Legislative council and
upon obtaining the signatures of the Legislative Council President and the
Tri-executives.
________________________________________________________________________
Vote Count
3/20/08 Passed Acclamation
04/03/08 Amended
& passed Acclamation
________________________________________________________________________
____________________________
__________________________________
Sara Martinez Davine,
Tri-executive Charles
Gilford III, Tri-executive
____________________________
__________________________________
Hadley Brown,
Tri-executive
Boyce Postma, Legislative Council President