A decision to limit the role that students play in allocating their segregated fees seems to be a desperate and fearful attempt to dampen the enthusiasm and potential that our generation possesses.

As a student here at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, I was under the assumption that, as our school promotes itself with the catchy slogan “Something Great in Mind,” they would actually trust us to utilize our “great minds” to make decisions.

I would especially hope that we would at least be trusted to make decisions that pertain to how our own segregated fees (the money students contribute to enhance their educational experience) would be spent. Unfortunately my hope and trust in that fact has been violated by the current segregated fees debacle.

This Tuesday, a committee will convene at UW-Stevens Point to essentially decide the fate of the current status of segregated fees. Students in Wisconsin have always been granted primary authority in the matter of how their segregated fees would be spent. This right is guaranteed under Wisconsin State Statute 36.09(5), passed in accordance with a Supreme Court decision over a decade ago.

Since this time students have openly and responsibly managed the allocation of segregated fees. Whereas college tuition and the fees that are controlled by the administration have sky rocketed, student controlled fees have seen very minimal change.

It was my understanding that higher education is supposed to be a tool to train the next generation of leaders and professionals, so that when our time comes to take the reins we are ready and more than capable to do so. As a junior here at UWM, I am willing to bear witness to our generation’s ability to not only maintain our current state, but more importantly to improve upon it.

With this in mind I think it is important to understand the vast difference between potential and opportunity. Although our current generation has the potential to move forward, the question currently on the table is whether or not we will be provided the opportunity to take on this challenge.

Without opportunity, potential becomes nothing more than a fairy tale with no relevance to the real world. This “real world” is currently showing its ugly teeth and snarling, in hopes of scaring and silencing an eager generation of leaders.

A decision to limit the role that students play in allocating their segregated fees (THEIR MONEY) seems to be a desperate and fearful attempt to dampen the enthusiasm and potential that our generation possesses. Such a decision would convey an extreme lack of trust in our generation and possibly do away with some of the institutions that we as students value so strongly in preparation for our future.

Oddly enough I have return to this term “potential.” Perhaps it is the misunderstanding of the word “potential” that Chancellor Wiley of the University of Wisconsin System seems to be struggling with. Perhaps he does not understand that we as students not only possess a great deal of potential, but actually realize this potential through the process of shared governance.

I call on my fellow students to not stand idly by while our abilities are doubted and our rights revoked. I call on you to not be apathetic or without passion but rather to be the adult, the citizen and the leader that some doubt you are.

Do this by standing strong and demanding that your rights not be stripped and your dignity not be trampled. I call on you to speak out on this issue, whether to your roommate, your parents, or directly to the members of this committee.

Make sure your voice is heard now, because if you do not, we as the future of this world may never be granted a voice again.

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