There has been a lot written about the Student Association Senate and its dealings with the group Students for Sensible Drug Policy.

On Tuesday, the leaders of SSDP wrote a letter stating that we were treating them unfairly and specifically stated that I did not allow them to “argue their side.” I assume that most people did not attend the meeting where they came for approval so I want to give you some background information.

As a senator, I have no problem with this group receiving the recognition to allow them to act as an official student organization. My problem with them is that they are a political group and yet their leaders insist that they are not and to this point have been unwilling to budge on this matter.

There is plenty of evidence showing that they specifically set out to sway legislators on polices relating to drug enforcement. Therefore under the guidelines set by the SA, Internal Reserve Service and other governing bodies they are in fact a political group.

There are many groups on campus who are ineligible for SA funding due to their categorization as a political or religious group. So this is not a “witch hunt” against them, rather an example of your elected officials in the SA doing our jobs to ensure that all groups are treated fairly.

I commend their leaders for speaking up, and it is my sincere hope that they will be willing to change their status to a political group so we can move past this issue and they can continue their work that they obviously have a passion for.

Austin M. D. Quick

Senior

Political science major

Senator – 5th District

NIU Student Association