There is a specter haunting Saint Louis University-the specter of socialism.
At yesterday’s Student Government Association meeting, the senate sparred over adding Students for Social Equality to the ranks of chartered student organizations. While eventually voting to charter the leftist political group, senators passionately debated both the viability of the organization and its place in a Catholic institution.
Yesterday’s meeting also saw the passage of a bill to establish a loan-based financing option for chartered student organizations. The senate also prepared for a phone-a-thon to raise money for the new upper-class scholarships and discussed next month’s CSO annual funding meeting.
Kamil Kozlowski, the president of SLU’s chapter of Students for Social Equality, presented his group’s views and purpose.
Kozlowski, a senior studying political science, said the organization is “dedicated to teaching students about the history and politics of social equality.” It is affiliated with an international Marxist political party that is running several candidates in this year’s congressional election.
Although senators tend to approve new student organizations with little debate, Executive Vice President Evan Krauss’ bill to charter Students for Social Equality faced skepticism and outright opposition.
Some senators wondered whether the six-member group was a viable student organization, especially considering that many of its members are seniors who will be graduating this spring. Kozlowski said that the group has a president and executive board in line for next year and that he expects membership to increase.
“With the situation in Iraq and continuing economic inequality in the United States, I expect our organization to grow in the coming weeks and months,” Kozlowski said.
Senator Charles Flint, a junior representing the Doisy School of Health Sciences, asked about the “alleged events” the group has sponsored. Kozlowski said the group had held a screening of a film exploring the communist Russian Revolution.
“I attended the screening and was surprised by the turnout. About 30 students and faculty members were there,” Krauss said.
A senator mentioned that a history professor had offered extra credit to students who attended the event and suggested that many students had not come because of genuine interest in the group.
Kozlowski said that many of the attendees had added their names to group’s contact list and that some might join.
Mike Heithaus, a senator representing the School of Law, asked whether the socialist student organization was opposed to freedom of religion, and Senator Gene Diamond asked whether they supported personal liberties. Kozlowski responded that the group was in favor of democratic rights, including freedom of religion.
“If we have College Republicans and College Democrats, don’t students deserve a third party and another voice on campus?” Senator Lindsay Ryan, a senior representing commuters, said.
The senate eventually passed the bill and approved Students for Social Equality as a chartered student organization. The final vote was 29 to 11.
At the end of the meeting, long after voting had ended, Diamond, a junior representing the College of Arts and Sciences, gave a long statement explaining his opposition to Students for Social Equality’s presence on campus. He said that the Roman Catholic Church has long been opposed to socialism because of its emphasis on the “here and now,” materialism and denial of the value of selfless Christian charity and the Catholic conception of private property.
“The Church disagrees with the principals of socialism, and all the popes who have encountered it have opposed it. SGA is part of SLU, and SLU is part of the Catholic Church. We should not, therefore, support a group that represents views that go against the Church,” Diamond said.
SGA President Cari Johns did not allow Kozlowksi to respond to Diamond’s comments during the meeting.
Afterward, however, Kozlowksi said he thought that Students for Social Equality deserved a place at SLU.
“If a Catholic institution also claims to support democratic values, it should support a diversity of political views on campus,” Kozlowski said.
Besides the debate over chartering Students for Social Equality, the senate also approved a new loan-based financing option for chartered student organizations.
Possible penalties for defaulting on loans will be decided in advance by the chartered student organization and the Finance Committee.
The senate will also have to approve any loans.
