Last night Student Council debated and ultimately did not pass a resolution that would endorse the Tees Overseas campaign, a student group, whose goal is to collect unwanted orange T-shirts and send them to overseas areas in need.
The resolution asked for Council’s formal support and appreciation for the efforts of the group, which is currently funded by Council’s Athletic Affairs Committee.
Some Council members first expressed concern with the language of the endorsement resolution, which stated, “recent marketing efforts and policies threaten to strip Scott Stadium of its unique identity that existed during the era of the football program’s greatest success.” Council members took the language to mean that if Council passed the resolution, it may appear as though Council endorses dressing up for football games instead of wearing a T-shirt.
“If Tees Overseas is taking a certain side that’s fine, but Student Council is not in a position to take a side,” Vice President for Administration John Nelson said. “It’s not in our best interest as a student representative body to take a position on this issue.”
After Council members discussed the problematic language of the resolution, Graduate Arts & Sciences Rep. David Hondula motioned to remove any language that might suggest Council’s support of wearing traditional attire instead of “Sea of Orange” T-shirts. As a result, portions of the resolution that could be seen as controversial were removed.
After the language was removed from the bill, however, some Council members were still hesitant to endorse one student organization.
“Student Council doesn’t endorse too many causes or organizations,” Nelson said. “We really can’t support every cause and organization out there. We should leave resolutions endorsing specific causes to cases where either Student Council can really help the broad student body or where we think our role is necessary in endorsing a cause.”
During this debate, however, Hondula said he did not believe the bill to be problematic for Council, adding that, if passed, the resolution would simply illustrate Council’s support of the group’s philanthropic efforts.
“The resolution is just saying ‘Here are some T-shirts and Council appreciates the charitable aspects of the campaign.’” Hondula said. “The resolution is principally about getting shirts to those in need and not so much about picking one side or the other.”
Council voted on the resolution, which failed to pass with one in favor, two abstentions and the remainder against.
“I have to trust the people that have been on Council longer than I,” Hondula said. “If it truly is rare for Council to endorse causes, I’ll have to trust their opinion on that.”
Also last night, Council voted in favor of a resolution it discussed last week which would work to allow part-time graduate students access to ticked sporting events, proportional to the athletics fee they currently pay.
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