Another Student Government Endorses Repeal of the Drug Provision.

Almost two months after the FPC Student Government voted not to join CHEAR and endorse repeal of the HEA Drug Provision, our SSDP Chapter brought the resolution back Tuesday night and it passed overwhelmingly in both our Senate and Association of Clubs (AoC). The first time I had presented the resolution it failed 17-14, but with this time it passed in the new senate 15-5 and 16-1 in the AoC.

Right after first resolution failed to pass, we started contacting professors and the Executive boards of other clubs on campus. Professors gave us so much support and one has even offered to become another advisor for the club. Support was gained from clubs such as Black Student Alliance, Brothers Reaching Out, and the College Democrats. We created a facebook page dedicated to this issue and keeping students informed on HEA.

This time around the SGA Executive board was on our side and the vote was completely turned around. Ironically, most of the opposing votes came from the representatives for the class of 2009, the class from which the majority of the students that signed our petition belonged to! One of those representatives has slandered SSDP as an organization, backed out of a debate with me, and attacked our motives without ever coming to a single meeting!

I doubt that too many other chapters will have to put up with the animosity and ignorance that our chapter did when bringing the CHEAR Resolution to their student government, but some forms of resistance and misunderstanding are inevitable with what we are doing. This ordeal actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the issue gained popularity all over campus with articles printed in the campus paper, online magazine, regional papers, and intense conversations on the campus forum.