2008 Woodie Awards
ISU Ambassadors try to avoid lawsuit
Barbara Rose Nelson
Issue date: 2/15/06 Section: News
- Page 1 of 5 next >
|
"With all of the crap that's gone on, I would not still be in this group if I did not care about it. I think that our mission is good and the service that we do is very important. I don't want to negatively paint ambassadors, but we are having problems this year," said Knapp in an interview.
Knapp is not the only student who thinks that the Ambassadors are having problems. Trevor Jensen, ASISU Senate Pro Tempore and ASISU student representative on the Ambassador's Governing Board, agrees with Knapp. On January 20, 2005, Jensen filed a law suit against the Ambassadors in the ASISU Supreme Court.
The Ambassadors have been a part of ISU for over 25 years. The group has nearly 40 members, and, according to their web site, their mission is "to provide dedicated service that enhances the University's image." The Ambassadors are a service organization and volunteer a lot of their time staffing events on campus.
The Ambassadors serve under the auspices of the ISU Office of Enrollment Planning, the Office of the President, and the ISU Office of Alumni Relations.
Jensen's lawsuit deals with the Ambassador's Governing Board. Before issues are discussed by the Ambassadors, their governing board votes whether or not to bring topics to the full group.
The Ambassador's voting members of the governing board consist of an adviser from the Office of Enrollment Planning, an adviser from ISU Alumni, a faculty adviser, and two Ambassadors at Large which are students. The other student votes belong to the Coordinator, the Treasurer and a Student Representative from ASISU.
According to Jensen, the Ambassadors are the only student organization with voting advisers and the only line item that is titled as a club account. Jensen filed the lawsuit because advisers are not supposed to be voting on issues.
"The problem is not the ambassadors, the problem is not their mission, not the students, not even how they act. The problems are with controlling advisers and the secrecy of their decisions," Jensen said.
In the suit, Jensen wrote, "in order to ensure the independence of student organizations from excessive administrative control, in order to protect students' rights as outlined in the Idaho State University Handbook, and in order to comply with the formal provisions of the Freedom of Association Clause and the Freedom of Speech and Assembly Clause in the ISU Student Handbook, I am requesting that the court rule that ISU Ambassadors while retaining voting advisers, does not meet the standards necessary to be recognized as a student organization and is therefore not eligible to receive ASISU funds."