Plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee filed a formal request for the court to reconsider its decision to dismiss the trial concerning the dissolution of UWM’s previous student government.
According to the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access website, the court denied the plaintiffs’ original request for a temporary restraining order against UWM officials because there was not enough evidence that irreparable damage was caused, and there was not “reasonable probability of having ultimate success on the merits of this action at some point in the future.”
Plaintiffs Taylor Scott and Muhammad Samir Siddique, former members of UWM’s now-defunct student government, disagreed.
“We cannot comment on why (Judge Michael Guolee) dismissed the full case,” they said in a joint press release. “We respect his right as a judge and trier of fact. Yet, we feel strongly that this complain has merit.”
The original lawsuit was filed by the plaintiffs for what the attorneys considered to be the illegal dissolution of their previous student government. Scott said in an email that the new student government’s constitution was instituted by the UWM Board of Trustees with the “illegal use of student segregated fees and biased marketing,” in which 242 votes out of 24,298 eligible votes were cast to elect the new government.
“Again, I will reiterate that the long-term effects of students not engaging on-campus, students not truly having a stake in the future of their University is a slippery slope, and one that has disastrous unforeseen consequences,” Scott said.
Thomas Luljak, the vice chancellor of university relations and communications at UWM, said in a previous email to the Tribune that the university is committed to giving students a voice in the shared governance system.
“We look forward to an open and fair election process this spring when students will be given the opportunity to decide whom they would like to represent them in student government,” Luljak said.
The university plans to ratify the new constitution May 1.
