UNC Student Congress passes tuition resolution

Student Congress passed a resolution Tuesday opposing any tuition increase exceeding the 6.5 percent cap mandated by the UNC-system Board of Governors.

The original resolution — proposed by representative Stephen Milder — stated that Student Congress was against a tuition increase of any amount for the 2012-2013 school year.

But after discussion, Representative Anya McDermott proposed amending the resolution.

“It’s unrealistic to say that we’re completely opposed to any tuition increases,” McDermott said of the original proposal. “Tuition increases are going to happen.”

UNC administrators last month expressed support for a proposal to raise tuition by 40 percent during the next two to four years.

The amended resolution passed before the body, with one member voting against it and one abstaining.

The resolution cites that tuition and fees for in-state undergraduate students have nearly doubled since 2002.

“We absolutely do not need to be raising tuition — we need to be making cuts,” said representative Greg Steele, who supported the resolution.

“The University has a responsibility to allow access to education for everyone.”

The resolution will be passed on to Student Body President Mary Cooper, the lone student voice on the Board of Trustees.

“It’s important that we state who this is going to,” said Adam Horowitz, speaker pro tempore.

“It’s not just being placed in a filing cabinet for Student Congress.”

Cooper has been hosting forums all week to measure student opinion on tuition increases.

Student Congress also passed a bill that will update the Student Code, providing an option for students to receive legal representation in front of the Student Supreme Court.

“Our main goal is to make a system that is fair to the students,” Speaker Zach De La Rosa said of the bill.

Contact the University Editor at university@dailytarheel.com.