At a student council meeting Wednesday night, Associated Students at Madison voted unanimously to pass legislation that will help secure in-state tuition for undocumented students at the University of Wisconsin.

In an open forum, more than ten people advocated for ASM to pass fair tuition legislation for undocumented students by sharing personal stories of their struggles attending college.

As it stands, undocumented students must pay out-of-state tuition plus additional fees — equivalent to the rate paid by international students, said Steven Shi, representative of the Committee of student services finances.

Undocumented students living in Wisconsin are subject to these fees and they are not eligible for most scholarships and loans due to their citizenship status, Dreamers of Wisconsin executive director Cristhabel Martinez said in her statement. presentation to the board.

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Oscar, an immigrant and UW student, also shared his story as an undocumented student during the presentation.

“Once it was time to choose a university and think about my future, I realized how many obstacles were in front of me and how many things I had to overcome to make my dreams come true,” Oscar said. .

Between 2010 and 2011, undocumented students were eligible for in-state tuition given that they graduated from a Wisconsin high school, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.. In 2011, the Wisconsin State Assembly Bill 40 took away this opportunity.

Legislation directs UW administration, UW system regents, and other student governments in the UW system to support the restoration of the Assembly Bill 75 from 2009.

“[Tuition equity] is not a rebate, a loan or a grant that we are asking for, but the same price as everyone else,” said Dreamers Center director Erika Rosales.

The ASM also heard a presentation on Counting With Our History: The UW-Madison Story of Discrimination and Resistance by Project Director Kacie Lucchini Butcher.

Since 2019, researchers have sifted through more than 175 cubic feet of historical documentation at UW, Butcher said. The culmination of the project – a physical exhibition at the Chazen Art Museum – is set to open in fall 2022.

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The ASM also passed legislation urging the UW administration to convict and discipline antisemitism on the campus. In addition to this bill, students should also look for an upcoming initiative in which students will lobby for more kosher dining options on campus, ASM Representative Anna Glasman said.

The WSA passed the legislation allowing ASM to request information from the Menard Center about the controversial UW Free Speech survey that was recently postponed until the fall of 2022. The bill would allow the ASM to ask which student groups were consulted in the creation of the survey, as the ASM was not.

Some opponents of the survey, such as WSA Legislative Affairs Chairman MGR Govindarajan, believe that some questions seek answers. Black, Indigenous, and other people of color would potentially be influenced to accept that they would tolerate offensive language used by others, even if the language was derogatory.

Editor’s Note: This article previously incorrectly attributed a quote to MRG Govindarajan. The quote has been deleted.