No evidence supports DSG reasoning

I feel that there is some confusion regarding Duke Student Government's decision not to issue a charter to A Chosen Generation.

First, let me explain exactly what a charter is. With a charter, any group can hold meetings in University facilities, put up flyers on campus and request money from Duke Student Government--specifically, the money allocated to DSG through the Student Activity Fee.

The reason that I voted against giving a charter to this group had nothing to do with tolerance, rather allocation of the Student Activity Fee. My vote did not try to prevent this group from existing on the Duke Campus. Rather, it insures that Duke students will never have to support this group through their Student Activity Fee.

The best solution to this problem is to make A Chosen Generation an officially recognized group. This would give them all benefits of a chartered group except that they cannot request money from DSG. I would support this action in order to allow the group their First Amendment freedoms.

Duke Student Government is not trying to dictate which views should or should not be voiced on this campus, just the voices which the student body funds.

Mark Johnson

Duke Student Government Legislator