The Undergraduate Assembly passed a statement Sunday condemning a federal provision that prevents students convicted of drug offenses from receiving federal financial aid.
In particular, the UA takes issue with an amendment to the Higher Education Act of 1998, which will be presented in Congress again in January. The UA's statement asks the University administration to lobby against the reauthorization of the bill.
Last spring, administrators at Yale University called for reforming the Higher Education Act. They pledged to provide private aid packages of their own to take the place of federal aid that students might lose because of the provision -- on the condition that any such students go through a rehabilitation program.
According to UA Vice Chairman Ethan Kay, it was at that point that the UA became involved with the issue.
"It was brought to our attention by the Yale student council," said Kay, a Wharton senior. "They brought us on the bandwagon."
At the time, UA Chairman Seth Schreiberg met with the founder of Penn Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, Lauren Della Cava, and the two decided to work together on the issue. PSSDP also brought the Penn branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, College Democrats and the United Minorities Council together to help.
According to Schreiberg, "The UMC [was] a big force in gathering information," and the PSSDP was instrumental in raising awareness about the issue.
"We helped to bring together the coalition," Della Cava said. "We helped get information to the members of the UA. We helped to bring up supplementary facts, such as the racial bias of the act."
According to the UA's statement, the provision is likely to have "a discriminatory impact on students of color, as their communities are disproportionately targeted through the enforcement of drug laws."
According to the statement approved at Sunday night's meeting, drafted by UA member Sarah Paraghamian, the UA believes that education and treatment are the routes to living drug free. The Drug Free Student Aid Provision is "counter-productive because it denies students access to education and does not provide for treatment."
"I think the University of Pennsylvania should be on the forefront of academic justice," Paraghamian said.
Paraghamian, a College junior, said that the provision has been unpopular from the time it was introduced.
"Even the guy who wrote the bill admitted that it has had unintended consequences," Paraghamian said.
At this time, almost 200 other student governments and four university administrations have stated that they do not want the Drug-Free Student Aid Provision to be reauthorized in January when it is brought before Congress.
"We decided to take a stance now, and not in January, because we are hoping to keep this issue at the forefront," Kay explained. "We are urging [the administration] to take a public stance the way Yale and other universities have done."
