Arizona students will no longer be forced to financially support polarizing student groups under new law
Under the new legislation, students are allowed to refuse to send fees to college and university groups whose missions they oppose.
The law’s sponsor said this ‘is an attempt to balance the first amendment rights of the students who participate in clubs like Students for Justice in Palestine with the rights of (Jewish) students . . . not to be compelled to help them speak.’
On April 10, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs signed a bill into law that permits students to choose not to have their student fees go to campus organizations they disagree with.
House Bill 2178 states that Arizona’s public universities must “provide each student who is charged fees with a reasonable opportunity to select one or more student organizations or clubs, or both, to which the university may not allocate the student’s pro rata share of the fee monies” (referring to “fee monies to support the activities of individual university-recognized student organizations or clubs”).
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The legislation is sponsored by Republican State Rep. Alexander Kolodin, who wants to allow Jewish students to choose not to fund anti-Israel groups with their student fees. Kolodin said that the legislation “is an attempt to balance the first amendment rights of the students who participate in clubs like Students for Justice in Palestine with the rights of (Jewish) students . . . not to be compelled to help them speak.”
Groups like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) have been prominently involved in the recent anti-Israel protests that have gripped college and university campuses.
❗️NEW CHANT ALERT❗️
NO DIVESTMENT, NO COMMENCEMENT pic.twitter.com/jdwzY2nLxL— National Students for Justice in Palestine (@NationalSJP) April 29, 2024
The bill triggered resistance before its signing, with the Associated Students of the University of Arizona issuing a Jan. 29 resolution opposing the legislation and claiming it would “result in the loss of programs and initiatives that are currently available to and organized by students attending a university within the State of Arizona.”
Several anti-Israel groups, including SJP chapters in Arizona public universities, also alleged that HB 2178 “sets not only a dangerous precedent for all student groups and pro-Palestinian voices, but poses a threat to all student groups on campus.”
[RELATED: ASU students interrupt Nancy Pelosi appearance, scold her for being ‘complicit in genocide’]
This March, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an executive order to fight anti-Semitism in higher education. The measure requires Arizona’s public colleges and universities to “[r]eview and update free speech policies to address the sharp rise in antisemitic speech and acts on university campuses and establish appropriate punishments, including expulsion from the institution.”
Campus Reform has reached out to Rep. Kolodin’s office and the Associated Students of the University of Arizona for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
