[20799] in APO-L
Re: Partisan Political Activity
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Cliff Gilley)
Wed Aug 25 19:43:57 1999
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 16:45:39 -0700
Reply-To: Cliff Gilley <clifg@SEATTLEU.EDU>
From: Cliff Gilley <clifg@SEATTLEU.EDU>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
In-Reply-To: <37C476A0.5044F1DE@uswest.com>
I'll bite, but I don't think even in the situation you've given that you can
avoid at least a surface look at whether or not such an act is partisan political
activity. Gun control is a hot issue, and it is most definitely a political
issue. But it's also a safety issue, and given the tragedies that have occurred
in the recent past, people have strong feelings. Simply put, though, lobbying is
lobbying. By definition it is a political act. And, as a non-partisan
organization, we should take pains to not involve ourselves in overtly political
acts. Your reaction to the student's criticisms was the right way to go, IMHO.
To put it in a more pragmatic perspective, let's look at the potential impact
something like lobbying on such an issue could have on the Chapter, had you gone
that route, setting aside legal things. The first thing that could conceivably
have happened was for those brothers who are opposed to gun control (for whatever
reasons) to become upset, perhaps angry, with the Chapter's involvement, and
possibly go so far as to leave the Chapter. That's step one. Step two is the
publicity that could occur, and brand the Chapter as a "liberal" organization.
This could result in a feeling of animosity from some parts of your campus, and
could hinder your recruitment efforts. Surely, it would result in a lessening of
the diversity of opinions and people in your chapter. And that could result in
lower active membership, or less diversity in Chapter Programs and such.
All in all, activities which are overtly political run counter to the
all-inclusive nature that we hold very near and dear to our hearts here in Alpha
Phi Omega. The one aspect of this organization that I am most proud of is the
fact that we have Brothers with such vastly diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and
opinions, and anything that threatens that to me threatens the entire fraternity.
Again, all my opinons. (Sheesh, I've sent more to the list today than in the
past year, I think...*sigh*)
YiLFS,
Cliff Gilley
Alpha Phi Omega Section 8 Chair
_______________________________________________________________________
Cliff Gilley, 3L "The greatest trick the devil ever played
Seattle U. School of Law was convincing the world that he didn't
clifg@seattleu.edu exist." - Verbal Kint, The Usual Suspects
On Wed, 25 Aug 1999, Kegan Baird <kxbaird@USWEST.COM> wrote:
>Well, since the mill is running, let's try tossing a little grist in to see if
>we see how it works.
>
>This spring, in the aftermath of the Columbine tragedy, the Gamma Theta chapter
>at the University of Colorado - Boulder put together a service project where
>they folded thousands of paper cranes. One of the brothers of the chapter that
>was an alumni of Columbine started it is a personal way for her to cope with the
>enormity of what had happened, and the whole chapter jumped on the bandwagon.
>Before long, the campus press got wind of a campus group folding cranes as a
>gesture of peace and did a story on it.
>
>Shortly after the story came out, another student on campus e-mailed the chapter
>and lambasted them for not using their time and effort to do something more
>effective such as lobbying for tighter gun control. Thence followed a series of
>e-mails between the student and the chapter. We responded to the student that
>due to the diverse group of people and groups that we served, we refrained from
>lobbying and other partisan political activities. After several attempts to
>explain ourselves in such a way as to achieve some level of understanding, the
>student decided we were "beyond hope" and ceased contact.
>
>This was a real situation. You be the judge. Should the chapter have lobbied
>for gun control, or not? Don't make this an issue of whether or not guns are
>bad, but rather an issue of whether lobbying for gun control is good or bad for
>the chapter. Would such lobbying be a worthwhile service project? What
>possible negative consequences could befall the chapter? For the time being,
>let's not delve into whether or not such lobbying could be considered partisan
>political activity, and whether or nor it could conceivably violate our
>non-profit status.
>
>Kegan Baird
>Sec.30 Chair
>
