ASMSU votes to support tuition cap

ASMSU’s Academic Assembly is recommending a 2 percent cap on tuition increases over the next three years.

The assembly reached the decision at its meeting Tuesday. ASMSU is MSU’s undergraduate student government.

MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon presented MSU’s budget plans to ASMSU on March 5, which included possibly raising tuition 8.9 percent or cutting more than 700 faculty members. Simon said neither extreme would occur.

The assembly voted down a bill March 17 to recommend a tuition freeze by an 8-7 vote. Following that vote, a Facebook group called the Michigan State University Transparency and Accountability Initiative was started. It now has about 730 members. According to the group’s Facebook page, the goal of the group is to keep tuition affordable.

Several members of the group were present at Tuesday’s meeting and read prepared speeches to the assembly. Many shared disappointment about ASMSU’s March 17 decision and shared personal stories of how a tuition increase could prevent them from attending MSU.

“The decision regarding the tuition freeze brought me here,” said Horia Dijmarescu, the group’s founder. “I find that it doesn’t adequately represent the views of the students.”

Each member of the public is allowed three minutes to speak to the assembly at meetings. Dijmarescu, an international relations senior, continued to speak after assembly Chairperson Pro Tempore Brad McDonald informed him he had exhausted his allotted time. Dijmarescu continued to talk until Student Assembly Chairperson Michael Webber told him the police would be called if he continued to disrupt the meeting.

Still, McDonald said it is important that students voice concerns to representatives.

“I would appreciate students coming into every meeting just to give their opinion on anything,” he said. “If they have a problem … it’s something I think you should contact your representative about or something that I think you could come to this meeting to talk about.”

Later in the meeting, the assembly unanimously passed the bill supporting a 2 percent cap on tuition increases for each of the next three years.

James Madison College representative Mitchell Rivard, who introduced the tuition freeze bill and the 2 percent cap bill, said he was encouraged to see students voice concerns.

“That had an ultimate effect on the unanimous decision to have a tuition increase cap at 2 percent,” he said.

McDonald said it was good that the assembly compromised and created a stance regarding the increase.

He said he will be contacting the MSU Board of Trustees to make them aware that students know a tuition increase is necessary, but they would like it be as low as possible.

Staff writer Kate Jacobson contributed to this story.