Independent decision-making is an open issue in today's student government at Marquette, but the governing body during the Vietnam War era often clashed with university administration over these same basic rights.

"It was a time of very serious social questioning and unrest in which people were trying to decide what the university should be," said Art Heitzer, a 1969 alumnus of the former College of Liberal Arts who was president of the Associated Students of Marquette University during the 1968-'69 school year.

Heitzer, now a Milwaukee-based attorney who practices civil rights and employment law, said he questioned ASMU's legitimacy because "it was set up by the administration and not by the students."

The manner in which student government was organized as well as issues concerning the Vietnam War caused conflict over student freedoms, Heitzer said.

"We were claiming to have a student government that we couldn't control," Heitzer said. "It was my opinion that we should abolish ASMU because it was a sham."

ASMU did not receive separate funding until the early 1970s when the student activity fee was first charged, said Mark McCarthy, dean of student development and adviser of the Marquette Student Government Senate from 1984 to 1996.

MUSG now has its own budget and can cut its own checks, which provides "easier access to funding" for student organizations, McCarthy said.

Alex Hermanny, MUSG president and a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences, said MUSG has a lot more control than it did in the 1960s, although "we do have oversight within the university to make sure no one is stealing."

Heitzer said freedom of speech was also a source of conflict during his term as ASMU president.

"We were denied the opportunity to bring in speakers if the university didn't think it was legitimate enough," he said.

When war critic and author Benjamin Spock spoke at Marquette, a political science professor remained on stage to contradict Spock's thoughts during the presentation, Heitzer said.

ASMU was also barred from bringing beat generation poet Allen Ginsberg to campus, prompting 50 students to march to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to hear him speak, Heitzer said.

Basic restrictions still exist regarding the speakers MUSG can bring in, McCarthy said, though programs now represent the fact there are "a lot more perspectives present on campus."

"There are certain limits in terms of what they can fund that could be seen as contradicting the philosophy of a Catholic, Jesuit institution," McCarthy said. He said speakers whose opinions contradict the university mission still must be "balanced with an equally strong representation of the Catholic stance."

First Amendment rights also came into play during the spring of 1969, when protests against the Vietnam War forced the university to disrupt its academic schedule and shut down, Heitzer said.

As resistance to the war heightened among students, Heitzer said they had trouble "challenging the university's policies on racism and militarism."

"I sharply held different views and we attempted to communicate those to the administration," Heitzer said. "It was a different scene than (students) are facing today."

McCarthy said the administration, especially within the last five years, has come to respect MUSG and look to it as a valuable source for student opinion.

"We've had a series of very strong presidents and committed leaders throughout the organization that have done a lot," he said.

MUSG currently has "a good balance between a working relationship with (administrators) and being able to challenge them on what needs to be challenged," Hermanny said.