Within the next few weeks, the student body will vote on whether or not the Brandeis Academic Debate and Speech Society will become a secured club.

There are three classifications of student clubs and organizations: recognized, chartered and secured. BADASS is currently a chartered club, which means that the club can request money from the Union Finance Board to fund programming, but a secured club receives a set amount of funding from the Student Activities fee each semester.

"We're not asking for any more money than we currently receive but just want to stabilize it [so that] we can better allocate funds towards enhancing our public outreach and public debates," BADASS president David Altman '15 wrote in an email to the Justice. "We can work to recruit more speakers and ensure our open door policy so that all Brandeisans can access this discourse and participate in our club without any exclusivity."

According to the Student Union Constitution, "Secured organizations are hereby defined as those organizations that the student body recognizes as fundamental to the mission of the university." There are currently nine secured clubs, including BEMCo, the Waltham Group, WBRS and the Justice.

"Our burden is to be fundamental to the mission of Brandeis, and that mission values speech and discourse-particularly in the context of Brandeis University, which holds the rational discussion of ideas and ideals to be paramount," Altman said. Altman argued the "fundamental" nature of BADASS as a club on campus.

"BADASS provides two crucial services. In addition to being the second-ranked parliamentary debate team in the U.S. and open to any undergraduate student, we help other clubs facilitate their missions by hosting public debates," said Altman.

"This year alone, we've worked with the March of Dimes club at Brandeis, the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, Students for Environmental Action, and Deis Dems," Altman continued. "Additionally, we've had public debates on controversial topics like nuclear development in Iran, the strategy of the gay rights movement, and the justice of affirmative action in higher education admissions-among many others," he said.

Although this function is not in BADASS' constitution, according to Altman, that will change. "Although our constitution does not currently include a section on helping clubs, it will as of our next elections cycle after the summer-our actions, however, indicate that it is an integral aspect of our function."

"[BADASS is] in no way fundamental to the University," said Class of 2013 Senator David Fisch in and interview with the Justice. "When they came to the ways and means committee, they told us that one of their main goals was to bring better speakers to campus, but that is not a reason to be secured. It's a reason to be chartered, if anything."

Student Union Executive Senator Ricky Rosen '14 says he will vote to secure BADASS. "The program is so successful that it's expanding. Because it's expanding, they need more funds. They want to bring speakers and visibility to campus," Rosen said.
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