“Our student voice has been shut down.” – Samantha Prahl, Student Association president

UPDATE: UWM police take files from SA office Monday night.

Members of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Student Association received an unpleasant surprise upon arrival to their office on Friday morning — they simply couldn’t get inside.

Chancellor Carlos Santiago’s office has suspended all Student Association access to facilities and segregated fee money until SA turns over all financial records, including private account information, under UW System policy F20.

On Oct. 9, Santiago requested that any and all financial records be made available to UWM auditor Paul Rediske, and UW System auditors Tou Her and Zach Simba. Under the F20 policy section II, organizations must provide financial records if requested. Failure to comply with this policy may result in the denial of fee and facility support.

SA did not refuse a financial audit, said Samantha Prahl, SA president. Instead they requested that the audit be conducted by an independent party.

However, a note left on the SA office door by Interim Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Jim Hill stated that they indicated plans to audit themselves internally and never gave up their records, prompting the suspension.

“We never said we won’t give up the books,” said Kyle Duerstein, SA legislative affairs director.

Prahl added that she has no problem with being audited, just not by the university.

A meeting was set to take place on Monday between Prahl and administrative officials, but the office was locked up on Friday before that took place.

“Our student voice has been shut down,” Prahl said. “It is vitally important to maintain our independence (by state statute) from the university. It sets a dangerous precedent when an independent organization has to answer to the university.”

She added, “If need be, it is my intention to sue the university.”

SA held a makeshift meeting Friday night in a garage in the 3300 block of Cramer Street to inform members of the activities of the day and to discuss what is next. The impromptu meeting had to be held off campus as part of the suspension.

A resolution titled the Fiscal Accountability Act of 2006 was presented at the meeting, demanding that other services on campus be suspended as well under accordance of the F20 policy, such as the Norris Health Center, Klotsche Center, Student Union and Athletic Department. SA alleged illegitimate transactions totaling over $100,000 associated with these groups and wanted the same treatment administered to those organizations. However, the measure was not voted on or approved at the meeting.

The meeting may also have been held in violation of SA Senate bylaws section 6b, which states that emergency meetings must have 48 hours in between being announced and held.

Members of SA voiced their concerns that student freedoms are being strictly assailed by the university in suspending the activities of an independent organization.

“To do what they did to an organization that is allowed by law to govern themselves is unprecedented. It’s unbelievable,” said Student Appropriations Committee chairman Dan Bahr, who also sponsored the accountability act.

Others voiced dissent with the Student Association’s stance on the situation and urged the organization to comply.

“If there is no problem, why don’t you just give it (the account records) up?” said senior Antonio Ramirez. “What do you have to hide?”

The shutdown comes in light of an ongoing investigation into an embezzlement charge involving a $10,000 check from the Sandburg Halls Administrative Council that was written to former SA president Russ Rueden. The Student Association has a similar private account just as SHAC, the organization involved in the embezzlement charge, does.

Rueden said at the meeting that everyone will get a response, just not tonight.

Prahl said SA has about $2,500 in their private account currently, money that is typically used for emergencies like the current suspension. However, SA cannot access that money to be used for an attorney in light of the current situation, so they are looking for someone who will work pro-bono, or without compensation for the public good.

A university police detective escorted Prahl and other SA members into the office when they went in Friday afternoon to gather textbooks and other belongings so that nothing could be tampered with.

“They are treating us like criminals,” Prahl said.

The shutdown affects all aspects of SA, including the Student Appropriations Committee, meaning that student organizations will not receive any allocated money until some sort of agreement is reached and the suspension is lifted.

Administration representatives were not immediately available for comment.

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