Smith cuts MassPIRG funding.
In News
In the final week of February, Smith students voted to stop funding their chapter of the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (MassPIRG). Over 600 students voted through the Student Government Association website and results were available within hours. Those students represent roughly 23 percent of Smith's student population, and voted 331 to 277 against funding renewal.
MassPIRG is a statewide non-profit organization devoted to voicing the opinions of Massachusetts's citizens, and it maintains chapters at universities throughout the state. Local university chapters, including Smith's, have recently conducted campaigns addressing artificial inflation of textbook prices as well as national issues such as clean energy production. The Smith chapter was established in 1976 and the university-wide student fee was instituted in 1985. The chapter was given the right to set up a fee that can be waived when it was founded, but the fee required renewal by student referendum every two years.
During the lead-up to the vote, flyers could be seen all around campus urging students to "Vote Yes for MASSPIRG!" The Sophian, Smith's student newspaper, published editorials supporting both sides of the issue. Despite that, many students were unaware of the results until the newspaper published them on March 1st. Smith junior Laura Agresta explained, "The campus is enormously uninterested in the whole proceeding." Neither the Smith chapter of MassPIRG nor the state organization has commented on the funding cut.
"I feel the MASSPIRG fee failure was a result of confusion," said first-year student Abby McIntyre. "Too many students didn't know what MASSPIRG is or didn't understand that they weren't simply voting against the increase, they were voting against the whole concept of the fee." Senior Kathryn Chase disagreed, saying, "for many years, students have not wanted it on their tuition bills, but not enough students voted. This year, students were more aware of the fee's existence and cared enough to vote."